Working Wonders
by Seaniar
Summary: The 15 year old Ash Ketchum, recent champion of the Kanto Battle Frontier has returned home, thinking about how to proceed with his journey. Having tried and failed in Hoenn after starting anew, he has decided to bring his older Pokémon on new journeys, but first he must be reacquainted with his older friends. Hearing about Sinnoh he decides that is his next destination...
1. Prologue: A New Beginning

**A/N:**

 **So I´ve decided to try my hand at this. I write quite a lot, just usually I don´t write fanfiction. A couple of things I want to make clear right now.**

 **1) English is a second language for me so don´t expect flawless spelling.**

 **2) I have been told I am not the best at punctuation, so don´t expect too much from me there either.**

 **3) I will be writing in my own style, which includes details about geographical sights, smells and sounds. Basically environmental depiction.**

 **4) I will be taking leeway to change some of the stuff I feel like. Such as age, what Pokémon's are caught and the timeline to some extent.**

 **5) I routinely have writers blocks, so uploads will probably be far between. In return, when I do have inspiration to write, I write a lot.**

 **Now that is the last of said 'rules' for my writing, so I´ll give only a couple of pieces of information before I actually start writing. Ash is 15, nearly 16, in this journey, backed up by information from this website:**

 **ashs-age-in-each-series/**

 **So if you´ve read that, you´ll understand that I intend to write a rewrite of the Sinnoh Saga. Only I´m putting in a substantial period of time between the end of the Battle Frontier and the Sinnoh Saga. Dawn will be 14, I´ll make the reason for that in the story. Oh, and if it isn´t obvious this story will be Pearlshipping. Or at least I think it is Pearlshipping, I never actually paid attention to the ships. Its Ash/Dawn, alright? Ash will use every Pokémon he´s caught so far, and he will catch non-cannon Pokémon, as will Dawn. Ash will be more mature and actually think things through, I´ve never been a fan of how he is portrayed in Unova or Kalos. The earlier series I could tolerate, but I kind of stopped watching after the first few episodes of Black and White. So let´s get cracking shall we?**

Working Wonders

He walked calmly and confidently into his hometown, taking a deep appreciative breath as he did. He had said his goodbyes to his friends a few days back, Brock being the last one. He had said goodbye to May and Max in Vermilion, they had gone back to Hoenn to spend some time with their parents. Brock had gone home when they passed by Pewter City, leaving Ash to walk the last five days alone. Well, almost alone. He always had his trusted partner riding on his shoulder, the powerful yellow mouse a constant given in his travels.

It was early morning; the sun had just barely started to appear on the horizon coloring the morning sky a flaming orange. He had been up for a couple of hours already, a habit he had started to get the most out of every day. He was usually up at 5 in the morning and trained with his Pokémon for a couple of hours before the others awoke. His body had actually started to show some results of the training he subjected himself to alongside his Pokémon, his muscles becoming toned and lean.

His trusted partner was sitting tightly against his neck, snuggled in to keep his balance even as he snoozed away the morning fatigue. Ash arrived at his mother's house about 10 minutes after walking into Pallet, entering the house almost silently. Not impervious to the fatigue of travelling and early mornings, Ash succumbed to sleep on his mother´s couch.

He woke some time later to the sound of sizzling bacon and his mother´s pleased humming from the kitchen, accompanied by the near-silent mutterings of Mimey, his mother's Mr. Mime, setting the table. The heavenly smells of bacon, eggs and newly baked bread assaulted his nose, pleasing the young man´s nostrils greatly. Giving off a groan he started sitting up, stretching his arms over his head as he did.

"Morning mum," he greeted lovingly. "Mhm?" Delia mumbled as she looked up from her cooking. "Good morning, sweetie," she smiled brightly. "I´ve made breakfast, please you must be hungry," she said kindly, and gestured lightly towards the table. "Pi-pika," his partner exclaimed, before springing from the couch next to Ash and landing on the table. "You hungry buddy?" Ash laughed at his partner´s actions. "Pi-pikapi," the yellow mouse nodded eagerly. Ash couldn´t help but laugh, shaking his head slightly. "And people call me a glutton," he commented humorously.

The small family ate breakfast in peace, the calm morning a perfect time to catch up for the son and mother. "So what are you planning next sweetie?" Delia asked her son, knowing he wouldn´t be sticking around for long. "I…I´m not sure yet, but I think I want to take some time to train up my current Pokémon before going to a new region," he stated, unsurely at first but gaining confidence in the end. Delia smiled, but before letting him go meet the rest of his Pokémon on Oak´s Ranch she asked, "So how does it feel?"

"What do you mean mum?" he responded, clueless as to what his mother meant. "Winning, of course. It´s been a while since you won a challenge the last time," she clarified, a finger tapping her mouth as she did. Ash rubbed his chin slightly in thought, absentmindedly feeling his stubble forming, "Yeah I guess it is. Last time I conquered a challenge… That was the Orange League, nearly 2 and a half years ago now. It feels…it feels amazing, especially knowing I´m the first to ever make it."

Delia just smiled knowingly, "Alright, off you go. I know you want to meet the rest of your friends." "Thanks mum." With that he ran out the door, heading straight for Oak´s Ranch.

The sun had risen up completely by now, and the previously chill morning air was warm and humid. It didn´t take Ash long to arrive at the ranch, almost knocking down someone he crashed into by the door. "Wow, sorry Tracey. That was an accident," Ash apologized profusely. Tracey simply brushed it off, long since having gotten used to his former travelling companion´s rush. "Don´t worry about it, Ash. What´s up? You seem even more rushed than usual?"

Ash laughed easily at the quip, being acutely aware that he wasn´t the most patient. "I want to see all my friends, I have an idea I want their opinion on," Ash answered calmly, but Tracey knew him well enough to pick up on the eagerness in his tone. "You know how to get there, I have some more work to do," Tracey excused himself, and let Ash continue on his way.

Ash walked into the garden a few minutes later, the first of his old friends he laid eyes on, his trusted old Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur! How are you doing, buddy?" Ash exclaimed as the small green Pokémon jumped into his arms. "Bulba-bulba," his friend answered happily, before it jumped out of his arms and fired a swiftly charged solarbeam to the sky.

–Holy! Bulbasaur can charge a solarbeam that fast now? I´m not sure he can get much stronger as a Bulbasaur…Hmm, I wonder if the same is true for Squirtle?, Ash thought to himself seeing the solarbeam.

He didn´t have much time to think about it as the ground started shaking as the rest of his Pokémon charged forwards to greet their trainer. Luckily they all managed to skid to a halt before running him over, well all of them except Bayleef at least. The affectionate grass Pokémon sent him to the ground with her customary body slam.

"Haha, hey girl. Good to see you," Ash laughed from underneath his Bayleef. He managed to sit up, the grass Johto starter rubbing her head against him the entire time. "Hey everybody. How are you all doing?" he asked the group, being answered by a cacophony of positive responses and smiles.

The he grew serious, preparing to tell his friends about his newest plan. Before he could however he was interrupted by a familiar voice, "Hey, Ashy-boy!" "Gary!" Ash exclaimed pleased and annoyed simultaneously, turning around to face his old rival. What he was not expecting was the large yellow Pokémon with black stripes standing by his friend´s side.

"Wow, what Pokémon is that? It kinda looks like Electabuzz," Ash asked curiously. "Don´t answer that actually, let me guess. It´s from another region?" Gary laughed, "Yeah, you´re right on both accounts actually. Electivire here is from Sinnoh, and is an evolved form of Electabuzz." That caused Ash to laugh heartily, "I knew it. I may be experienced but I still have a lot to learn."

"Experienced? Ash, I don´t think I know anyone else who have gone toe to toe with legendaries, much less came out the victor. I checked your trainer page a few days ago, you´ve been classified as an Elite Trainer since just after the Silver Conference. And travelling with Brock you´ve probably picked up on quite a lot of techniques to care for Pokémon too, right?" Gary explained.

This caused Ash to laugh again, nodding his agreement. "So what are you up to now? Off to a new region?" Ash shook his head negatively, guffawing at the incredulous looks on Gary and all his Pokémon, sans Pikachu, faces. "Don´t misunderstand me, I´m not done travelling. I just feel like I need to train with my current Pokémon before I feel ready to take on a new region."

"Really, Ash. You wish to train before continuing your league quest?" Professor Oak shot into the conversation, walking over side by side with Delia. Ash nodded calmly, before stating, "I only need a place to do so…," Ash trailed off. The professor seemed to shrug uncomfortably, casting a nervous glance towards Delia. "I might know of a place, Ash, but first have you decided which league you will challenge after? Most of them start in another month, and afterwards you´ll have to wait a full year," he tried explaining to Ash. Ash seemed a little put off by that, until he caught unto something the professor had said.

"Wait, **most** of them? I thought they all run simultaneously?" Ash asked confused. "Well yes, normally they do… However due to extenuating circumstances the Sinnoh league officials have decided to push back their opening another three months," professor Oak explained. –Extenuating circumstances? What could possibly halt a league?, Ash thought to himself, a train of thought he almost unconsciously laid out to the professor.

"Ah, well that is actually a good question, Ash. The truth of the matter is that the Sinnoh region has been plagued by Pokémon Hunters as of late. One specifically, Hunter J, is extremely dangerous and is one of the reasons they are pushing the start of the Sinnoh league, and a major factor in the raising of the age limit in Sinnoh," the professor explained.

A light rustle of wind over grass accompanied his last words, drawing with it an eerie silence. The creaking of trees audible over the entire of the meadow, in which the group was gathered.

"The raising of the age limit? What do you mean, professor?" Delia asked curiously. Ash grimaced and cut in before the professor could answer, "The legal age, mum. You know the age when you first receive your very own Pokémon? Here in Kanto it´s 10, but in Sinnoh they changed it to 14 the same year I started my journey. I didn´t know that was the reason though," Ash trailed off from his explanation.

"Well, not the entire reason, but part of it. It has long been argued that the world is too dangerous to send 10-year olds out alone, and with the Pokémon Hunters being such a nuisance in Sinnoh they acted on it, and raised the legal age to 14," professor Oak continued the explanation from where Ash left off.

"Anyway, I think I´ll get training for three months and then head to Sinnoh if that´s the case," Ash decided on the fly, as he is used to do. The professor, Delia and Gary all sighed, -That´s so typical Ash.

"What was the location you were thinking about, professor? You said you might have an idea," Ash suddenly asked, having remembered that bit of the conversation. "Oh, huh… Well I was thinking I might give you permission to train at Mt. Silver, only for a couple of months though and only as long as you promise to be careful. That mountain is extremely dangerous and the Pokémon there behave strangely due to their own innate power," the professor explained nervously.

"No! Absolutely not!" Delia cut in angrily, her voice cutting through the midday air. The tone of voice took Ash completely by surprise, he had never heard his mum raise her voice to that degree before. "Mum, it might be a really good training for me. Why wouldn´t I go there to train, besides it would only be for a couple of months before I head to Sinnoh," Ash tried. "I said no, and that is final, young man!" Delia burst out.

"Mum? Why are you so concerned about me going to Mt. Silver?" Ash asked cautiously. Delia sat down in the grass, tears starting to gather in her eyes, and started explaining to Ash about his father, Michael Ketchum. His father had been a Pokémon Ranger, and one of the Kanto Top Rangers. The last time she had heard from her husband he was leaving for Mt. Silver to investigate some strange tidings from the mountain. She had not heard from him since.

"And that young man is why I do not want you anywhere near that mountain!" Delia finished angrily. Ash had never heard what actually happened to his dad, only remembering him from the one time the family had visited his grandparents on their farm.

He couldn´t do anything but lean down and hug his mother tightly. "I understand why you´re concerned mum, but I will have my friends there to protect me and I´ll be extremely careful up there." Delia sniffed, her nose having started to run slightly due to her crying. "I don´t want to lose you too, Ashura," his mother whispered. –Wow, mum haven´t called me by my full name in years, Ash thought to himself.

"And you won´t, I´ll make sure to call you weekly while I´m up there. I won´t promise I won´t be injured, but I will be fine, mum," he comforted his mum. "Well, alright, but I will expect to be called every few days, and you will take it easier if you´re injured," Delia demanded of her son, not quite convinced she was doing the right thing by allowing him to travel to the mountain where her husband was lost.

"All right everyone, we´ll be training on Mt. Silver. I will be training with every single one of you in turn, but I think I´ll start with Bulbasaur, Kingler, Muk, Squirtle and…", he was cut off by the sounds of beating wings and a shower of powerful winds racked against his body. "Pidg-pidgeot!" the large brownish-colored Pokémon cawed as it landed next to Ash. Ash stared at the large bird, completely lost for words. A few of his older companions however greeted the new arrival like old friends.

"Pidgeot? Is that you?" Ash asked shocked, and then something clicked in his mind. –Oh, I was supposed to pick up Pidgeot after my run in the Orange Islands…I´ve let her wait for more than 2 years!, his mind raged against him. "Oh, I´m so sorry girl. Can you forgive me? I can´t believe I forgot to come get you for so long," Ash asked the bird, gently running his fingers through her plumage. The large bird cawed enthusiastically and let her wings envelope her former trainer, showing her willingness to forgive him.

"But what is going to happen to your flock now?" he asked his old returning friend. Pidgeot cocked her head to the side and pointed with one massive wings towards a pair of gently hovering Pidgeot not far away, one of which was not much smaller than herself. "Wow, is that your mate?" Ash asked, admiring the other Pidgeot. His own seemed to thrill with her head thrown backwards, and Ash blushed as he understood she was laughing. She then pointed at the large Pidgeot again, before thumping a wing to her chest.

"Wait…" Ash said stupefied, glancing back and forth between the two Pidgeot, finally exclaiming "That´s your son?!" She watched him with mirthful eyes as she nodded, and cawed a command to the remaining Pidgeot causing them to take flight away from the meadow. Ash, not knowing what else to do, hugged his Pidgeot tight and welcomed her back to their family.

"Well it seems Pidgeot will be my sixth Pokémon for the first team," Ash stated with a smile on his face. "I will be trading every two weeks, so once two and a half months is up we´ll be ready to leave for Sinnoh." That was greeted by happy noises from the group of Pokémon, most of all his stronger Pokémon who all looked forward to train together.

"Pidgeot would you mind giving me and Pikachu a lift to Vermilion? We agreed to pick Squirtle up there before going to Mt. Silver," Ash asked his newly returned bird. "Geot," Pidgeot thrilled calmly and leaned down to allow her trainer to climb on. "Thank you, Pidgeot. I really appreciate it." Climbing up he found a secure spot on Pidgeot´s neck, and held tightly to the crest that flowed from her head down her back. The raspy texture of her feathers felt great brushing against Ash´s callused hands. The pressure from Pidgeot´s takeoff forced Ash´s face against her neck, and he laughed joyfully at the sudden acceleration that followed.

Pidgeot nearly created a sonic boom just by speeding off towards Vermilion, the wind crashing around the three people left on the ground. "Wait no, come back! My sketch isn´t…finished," Tracey finished lamely when the sudden acceleration changed the easily visible Pidgeot into a black dot on the horizon. "You will have to finish it some other time Tracey, we have work to do. Besides Pidgeot will return here in another two weeks," Professor Oak stated mirthfully, as he turned around and walked into his lab. Delia smiled wistfully after her son, praying that he would be alright on the mountain that claimed his father.

Suddenly Professor Oak stopped dead in his tracks, an awkward silence following his action. "Professor?" Tracey asked, somewhat curious as to why he had stopped so suddenly. "…" The deadpan on Professor Oak´s face would be downright hilarious if it didn´t unnerve the others. "I just remembered that as a regional professor, and Ash´s sponsor, I´m allowed to grant him an extended carry limit once he is an Elite Trainer and I feel he´s ready for it…"

"And that matters because…?" Delia asked in a long drawn out sentence. The entire remaining flock of Ash´s Pokémon glared at him, and Tracey suddenly had extreme trouble keeping his composure. "Eh… Ash is already classified as an Elite Trainer, since before he went to Hoenn in fact." Delia blinked a couple of times in rapid succession, glancing over to the flock of Pokémon glaring daggers at the poor forgetful old man. "I think you need to correct that oversight, Professor. They don´t seem very pleased with you," she conceded, pointing to the Pokémon, and walked off towards her home.

The Professor started sweating bullets as his last line of defense simply walked off, and left him completely at the Pokémon´s mercies, of which there would be none.

The wind roared around Ash´s ears as Pidgeot darted forwards with an incredible speed, the terrain and wild Pokémon blurred by. A few smells managed to hit Ash´s nostrils, a few berries and he thought the distinctive smell of honey. Though where they came from he couldn´t ascertain, as they were the only few smells that managed to come to his nose through the strong wind.

About 30 minutes was all it took for Pidgeot to come in for a swift landing on the pier of Vermilion, gaining a few incredulous looks from the tourists and bystanders. –Why are they so interested in Pidgeot? I mean it isn´t rare for a trainer to ride his own Pokémon, Ash thought to himself. What he was oblivious to was the fact that his Pidgeot was abnormally large for its species, standing at just above 2 meters instead of the average 1,5.

An older gentleman seemed to gather his wits about him first, and hurriedly approached the much younger trainer. "Excuse me, young man, but would I be correct in assuming this is your Pidgeot?" he asked, somewhat nervously. "She is; why do you ask?" Ash seemed confused, cocking his head to one side. "Would you be interested in…" was as far as the old man got, before he was interrupted by an amused voice. "You might as well give up now, sir. Ash never trades his Pokémon unless they want it."

"And how would you know, boy?" the older gentleman asked slightly irritated at being cut off. The young man behind him, the one who had cut him off, was none other than Gary Oak, a genuine smile on twitching on his lips. "Because I´ve known him since we were 3?" Gary answered easily, with a slight chuckle in his voice. The gentleman´s eyes narrowed, but before he could say anything else Ash spoke up. "He´s right, I don´t trade my Pokémon. Especially not my oldest friends, and Pidgeot was one of my first captures."

That seemed to deflate the tension in the air, and the older gentleman sighed but acknowledged that he wouldn´t get any further. "Nice to see you Gare-Bear, but what are you doing in Vermilion?" Ash asked curiously. Gary shook his head amused, even though his eyebrow twitched in annoyance at the use of his old nickname. "Well Ashy-boy, I´m heading back to Sinnoh. Professor Rowan asked for me to return to our project, he fears that poachers might interfere and wants me there to repel them," Gary answered, shrugging his shoulders. "What I feel is a better question is what _you_ are doing here?"

Ash laughed, but did concede the point. "I´m picking up Squirtle from Officer Jenny, we agreed to meet at the Pokémon Center." Gary nodded slightly in apparent understanding, before he shrugged and moved towards the cruise liner. "See ya in Sinnoh, Ashy-boy. I´m sure you´ll manage to stumble upon my project even knowing nothing about where, why or what," he laughed as the two old friends parted ways.

Ash too laughed, as he returned Pidgeot to her ball and walked calmly off the pier towards the Pokémon Center. The brightly shining sun warmed the day, and created a wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility. Waiting for him at the Pokémon Center however was a surprise, a friendly and pleasant one though. Sitting in the shade underneath a large oak just by the Pokémon Center, and understandably surrounded by a horde of reporters and fans, was the combined Johto and Kanto Champion Master, Lance Wataru.

Sitting by Lance´s side, chilling with a set of sunglasses resting on his face, was Ash´s Squirtle with his hands behind his head. "Squirtle! How are you doing, buddy?" Ash exclaimed upon seeing his old friend. His Squirtle opened an eye upon hearing his voice and sprang up instantly after recognizing his trainer and friend. Sprinting over the small tortoise Pokémon jumped into his friend's arms, causing the gathered crowd to break out into confused whispering.

Lance sat up and smiled upon seeing Ash, picking something up from beside him and heading over. Now the reporters were really buzzing, the confusing spectacle promising a great story. "Ash, it is good to see you again," he said as he walked out of the shade and stepped closer to Ash. "It´s good to see you again too, Lance, but I didn´t expect you here?" Ash answered, the question easily understandable. It wasn´t every day the Champion Master was spotted in public, and now he had seemingly been waiting for him? That was curious indeed, at least in Ash´s eyes.

"Well I needed to deliver something to you, and when I called Professor Oak he said you´d be here today. Easiest for me was to simply wait for you here," Lance answered calmly with a shrug of his shoulders. "Deliver something to me? What could be so important that you have to deliver it yourself?" Lance outright laughed at the question, tears forming in his eyes. "Oh, no. It isn´t that important, I could have sent it with a delivery to Pallet Town. I _wanted_ to give it to you myself," Lance clarified.

That caused a lot of eyebrows to rise, the Champion Master had chosen to deliver something to this run-of-the-mill trainer? "You realize you have been classified as an Elite Level Trainer?" Lance asked as the two were seated at a picnic table, the reporters crowding around it. Ash gazed into the crowds and squirmed uneasily, "Yeah, I know. Since the Silver Conference, right?" Lance nodded, "Shortly after, but in essence you are correct. It was the performance of your Pokémon in the Silver Conference that granted you the title, not your placing or the like." Now the reporters seemed really interested, a 15-year-old Elite Trainer sitting in a friendly discussion with the Champ? That was gold worth to them, however the Champion seemed to realize that the reporters unnerved his friend.

"Would you mind leaving my friend and I in peace for now? I will answer any questions for you later, but it seems Ash isn´t a fan of the media," Lance spoke up, addressing the horde of reporters. The media seemed to want to resist, but the cold glare the champion sent them when they hesitated made their minds up. When the reporters had left them alone, Lance turned to Ash again.

"Which Pokémon do you think impressed us enough to grant you the title of Elite Trainer?" he asked curious for the answer. Ash seemed to consider that for a short while, before finally answering, "I guess Charizard? He is my most powerful after all." Lance smirked, "Then you´d be wrong. Yes, your Charizard is powerful and he did impress us, but it was your unevolved Pokémon that made the decision for us."

"My unevolved Pokémon? Like Squirtle here, and Bulbasaur?" Ash asked confused, "Don´t get me wrong they are strong, but how did they make the decision for you?" Lance seemed amused at the question, though he also seemed taken aback by it at the same time. "You´re Bulbasaur defeated a Meganium, Ash. A Meganium. The third stage of the Johto equivalent of Bulbasaur´s own line," Lance stated. "Eh, technically Bulbasaur tied with Jackson´s Meganium," Ash pointed out. "Really? That isn´t how we saw it," Lance mused aloud, "Meganium came into that battle fresh, your Bulbasaur had fought and defeated a Magneton already. So in our eyes, your Bulbasaur won that battle."

Ash took that into consideration, and had to admit Bulbasaur had been really impressive in that battle. Lance continued on, "Your Squirtle defeated an Electabuzz and a Quilava in succession to each other. Both of which were powerful in their own right." Squirtle sat up straighter and tapped his hand to his chest. This time Ash stayed silent, waiting for Lance to continue. "Your Totodile defeated the Sneasel that kept our officials from the Sacred Flame and I know about the Whirl Cup. A Kingdra, Ash, your Totodile defeated a fully evolved water and _dragon_ type. Do I really need to go on?"

"No, I get the point," Ash conceded. In hindsight he realized that many of the battles his unevolved Pokémon had won were actually rather impressive. Lance smiled, placing a case on the table between them. "This is the usual reward for becoming an Elite Trainer, coupled with a few extra pieces from myself, Mr. Goodshow and a few of the others." Ash blinked once, twice, before he pulled the box to himself and asked, "Why would you and the others add to the reward?"

Lance gave his reply in a complete deadpan monotone, "Ash let me tell you something. We know about Shamouti and we know about the Kyogre-Groudon incident. That´s two instances where you either helped immensely or was directly responsible for stopping cataclysmic events. I own my Gyarados because of you, Brock and Misty. You helped us gather the Sacred Fire for the Silver Conference, and you´ve probably done a whole lot of stuff we don´t even know about. So why _wouldn´t_ we provide an increased reward?"

That caused Ash to laugh nervously. –I should probably not tell him about the Celebi incident or Mewtwo, Ash decided in the silence of his own mind. Instead of commenting anymore he slowly unclasped the locks of the box and opened the lid. On the velvet cushion inside it lay three items, one seemed to be a clock and the two others were a belt and a new pair of gloves.

Picking up the clock he couldn´t help but ask, "Is this a clock?" Lance laughed heartily, "No, it isn´t though I understand the confusion. That, Ash, is an X-Transceiver. It is new technology out of the Unova Region, and can browse the internet, be used as a videophone and even has its own in built Transfer Machine to transfer Pokémon between you and Professor Oak. The belt is the belt of an Elite Trainer with place for up to 12 Pokémon, and the gloves are a new fabric designed to be strong enough to protect your fingers and hands against anything, well almost at least."

"Why would the belt have place for 12 Pokémon when you can only carry 6?" Ash asked curiously. Lance stared at him, before he nearly choked himself when he burst out laughing. "Ash, Elite Trainers can have their carry limits raised. Now you probably won´t use all 12 slots, because there are a few conditions to increasing the limit. You have to be an Elite Trainer, with 2 years' experience for each new slot. That would leave you currently with 8, however you have also won the Battle Frontier and the Orange League. Both of these are considered genuine League sanctioned challenges and both wins grant you another slot, effectively letting you have 10 Pokémon at a time."

Ash blinked, this really surprised him in the best way possible. "Eh, why didn´t Professor Oak tell me this?" Ash asked, his face set in a mildly confused expression. Lance chuckled, "He probably forgot, to be honest. It´s been some time since Professor Oak last sponsored an Elite Trainer." "Oh," Ash gaped in realization. Lance slowly got up with a slow groan, "Well, I better get going. Those reporters are going to be restless, might come back. So I will be taking my leave of you, Ash. Till we meet again." Having said his passing words Lance sauntered away, leaving a perplexed Ash behind.

Ash looked down upon Squirtle, who was on his lap quietly snoozing in the warm air. "Return Squirtle," Ash whispered allowing the Pokéball to retract its denizen. "We leaving Pikachu?" he asked, in no hurry to get up just yet. "Pi-pikachu-pika," his best friend answered from his shoulder. Before he could take even a step after having gotten up, Ash was suddenly lifted up of the ground in a bone-breaking hug. "Well what do you know, rumors were right, eh Primeape?" a booming voice exclaimed.

Ash was turned around, coming face to face with the smiling face of the usually rampaging ape Pokémon. The man standing at the Fighting-Types side was however what caught Ash´s eye, and the belt around Primeape´s abdomen. "Anthony is that you?" Ash asked in a state of total disbelief. "In the flesh," the large man answered with a toothy grin.

Around the two of them another crowd had gathered, this time whispering furiously. "How does the young guy know Anthony?" and "Why is Anthony´s Primeape so happy to see the other guy?" were the two most prominent questions. "Primeape, you gotta put me down. You´re breaking me," Ash breathed out, though he was smiling happily all the while. "Why are you two here in Vermilion?" Ash asked when he had been put down and allowed to catch his breath.

"Primeape just defended his title as P1-Champion, his fourth year running actually," Anthony explained. Primeape stood beaming proudly and flexing beside him, eliciting a slight chuckle from Ash. Then a stray though struck Ash like lightning, "Hey, Primeape?" "Prime?" "Would you like to come back to the team? Travel with me again?" "Prime-pri-prime!" Primeape beamed and crushed Ash in another hug. "I´ll take that as a yes," Ash managed to breathe out. "You ok with that Anthony?"

The crowd around them had become extremely restless, and a few angry mutters about how dear the whelp try taking Primeape away from his trainer could be heard. "Yeah, that´s alright. He is your Pokémon, and I have very little I can help him with left." Incredulous faces followed Anthony´s answer, the crowd not believing that a Pokémon so strong belonged to a 15-year-old.

Anthony handed Ash Primeape´s Pokéball, which the ecstatic Pokémon jumped into. Ash stared at the Pokéball, contemplating his next move. Gazing into the sky, he asked his partner in a quiet whisper, "Pikachu, what do you say we check if Haunter wants to return? I mean it´ll take us to Saffron, but that´s worth it isn´t it?" Pikachu cocked his head to the side, planting a small paw on his chin, before he straightened up and nodded his agreement.

"Alright then. To Saffron we go," Ash declared quietly, "Pidgeot come on out!" The screech of the enormous flying type sent the smaller critters scurrying, and the power of her beating wings pushed hard against the gathered crowd. "Hey girl, I need you to make another detour before we head for Mt. Silver. Can you do that for me?"

Pidgeot cawed gently and leaned down to allow Ash access to her back. Ash smiled and ruffled her feathers gently, "Thank you, girl." The sounds of Vermilion were bustling, a cacophony of every day noises mashed together. Getting up on his Pidgeot´s back Ash, whispered in her ear, "We´re getting Haunter, girl. Take us to Saffron, please."

With a mighty caw the large bird Pokémon took flight, creating a small tornado of dust under her. "Who was that kid, Anthony? I mean your Primeape was one thing, but that Pidgeot too? He was what 15, how can his Pokémon be that powerful?" a young man in a karate outfit asked from the crowd. At first his only answer was Anthony´s booming laughter, but after a while he did get an answer. "That lad, was Ash Ketchum. I dare say down the line he´ll be one of the strongest trainers in the world," a raspy voice called out over the crowd, which spun on their heels to face the new arrival. Only to gasp audibly at seeing who stood before them.

Having Bruno of the Elite Four be a judge at the P1-Championships was an honor indeed, but standing beside the large man was the one who had answered them, Agatha. The most powerful of the Kanto Elite Four, and one who had a reputation for being devilishly hard to impress. Bruno glanced wistfully after the black dot in the sky, "One day that young man will dethrone us, Agatha. I guarantee it," he declared with a brilliant smile on his lips. Agatha snorted, "Dethrone you maybe. By the time he returns to battle the Elite Four, I will have retired." With that the two Elite Four members turned and walked off in a quiet discussion.

High up in the air, Ash was once again experiencing the exhilaration of rushing adrenaline as Pidgeot built her speed. He knew this trip would take less time than between Pallet and Vermilion, but damn if it didn´t feel good. About 10 minutes later Pidgeot dove down towards the front of the Saffron Gym, the wind from her sudden deceleration nearly sending the young woman in front of the Gym to the ground. Ash jumped off Pidgeot´s back, laughing all the while with Pikachu still glued to his shoulder.

"Welcome, Ash Ketchum. I have been expecting you," Sabrina stated in a monotone. That stopped Ash cold, "I thought you were getting better with emotions?" A small smile twitched onto Sabrina´s lips, before she giggled slightly. "I am, Haunter convinced me to play a prank on you," she explained between giggles, the Ghost-type appearing just above her shoulder. "Haunt-haunt-haunt," the overly excited old friend seemed to laugh, even prompting Pidgeot to caw gently and quietly into her wing.

"Well seeing as you were expecting me; you realize why I´m here?" Ash prodded, while Haunter started to do air rolls in excitement. "Indeed, you wish to know if Haunter would like to come with you for good this time," Sabrina commented, her smile still present. It was then Ash´s started recognizing the scent of her perfume, a soft lavender smell.

He also noticed that for some reason the clouds had started to gather over, and a slight chill had crept into the air. "I would, of course if you have nothing against it?" he confirmed. Sabrina´s face was set in stone; no emotion was readable. "Well, I have nothing against it. Haunter certainly wants to." "Haunt-haunt!" a smile followed the exclamation, well more like a face splitting really.

"Well then, welcome to the team Haunter," Ash beamed holding out a Pokéball. Haunter on the other hand had other ideas, and floated to towards the backyard of the Saffron Gym. "Haunter?" Pikachu seemed to grasp the meaning before Ash, quickly motioning for him to follow. "Ah, you want to battle first, is that it? I mean I never did catch you properly," Ash chuckled amusedly.

-Haunter is a Poison and Ghost type who should I use against him? Ash thought to himself. "Ah, I know," he spoke aloud, "Muk, I choose you." The giant pile of purple goo roared out upon entering the battlefield, noxious fumes exuding from the toxic body. "Alright, you ready?" Ash asked both of the Pokémon. Immediately after Haunter started the battle by flinging a Shadow Ball attack against Muk. "Muk dodge that, and retaliate with Sludge Bomb!" Ash commanded confidently.

Muk let its body deflate to a puddle and flowed to the side, allowing the attack to crash into the ground behind it harmlessly. Then the Sludge Bomb shot out from the still not corporal body of Muk, the tactic taking both Haunter and Ash by surprise. The attack exploded against Haunter, sending it careening backwards even though it had little effect beyond that. When Haunter had righted and stabilized himself, Muk was once again back in his pile form. Haunter grinned mischievously, and disappeared into the air.

-Shit! Where is he going to reappear? Ash thought, his mind already in high gear to react and formulate a response to the coming attack. "Muk! Keep moving around, and be ready to respond!" As Muk slid around the battlefield, Ash noticed the shadow moving about in response. "Muk use Sludge Bomb to your front and left!" Instantly Muk responded and the attack struck true, as the quick fire response had left Haunter little room to dodge the attack.

Again the attack had little effect due to Haunter´s Poison typing, allowing Haunter to recover nearly instantly. A crooked grin and narrowed eyes displayed the jovial Pokémon´s slight annoyance at having been caught. In Haunter´s hands a purple spherical shape took form, before one of the hands was thrust forward to propel the attack towards Muk.

"Is that Dark Pulse? Shit, Muk dodge it!" Ash mused, before recovering a little too slowly. The attack hit Muk, though the Sludge Pokémon had dodged enough to sustain only minor damage. "Muk, it´s been a while since we battled together. Do you have any moves that will be better against Haunter?" Ash commented, deciding to trust his Pokémon.

Muk seemed to nod nearly imperceptibly, proving to Ash that he made the right decision by asking his old friend. "Alright, we need an opening," Ash decided, "Wait for my signal." Haunter, still with a charged Dark Pulse in its hand, floated upwards, assumedly to make better use of its reach. When Haunter had ascended a quick few meters it deftly shot its remaining Dark Pulse against Muk. "Now Muk!" Ash commanded, at the very same moment the Dark Pulse fired.

"Muuuk!" came the heavy screeched response as a stream of fire burst from Muk´s impossibly large maw. –Is that a Flamethrower attack? was the very first thought into Ash´s mind. The pressure between the two collided attacks built until the air went heavy with the smell of sulfur and an incredible explosion rocked the air, birthing destructive winds. "Alright Muk, let´s wrap it up! Flamethrower once more!" Ash commanded, the winds crashing into his body making it difficult to stand.

Muk, being a Pokémon of substantial power, fought through the cascading winds and fired an extremely powerful Flamethrower directly against Haunter. The attack didn´t completely engulf Haunter, as the Ghost-type had attempted a dodge, but it did leave quite a lot of damage. "All right!" Ash exclaimed, slipping an empty Pokéball from his belt. "Pokéball go!" he yelled as he flung the activated capture device against the panting Haunter.

"Haunt!" Haunter bellowed shortly before being enveloped in a red light and forcibly drawn into the Pokéball. The ball moved violently, Haunter fighting heavily against being captured this easily.

A few short moments later and Haunter burst free from the Pokéball, panting and having sustained a decent amount of damage. "Haunt! Hau-haunt!" Haunter exclaimed, a tired grin on his face, but narrowed and cautious eyes. Opening its mouth, a cold, white colored cloud reminiscent of smoke billowed out. –That´s Haze, is Haunter trying to hide his tracks? Ash analyzed the situation as was his regular style of battling. "Muk, you know how to use Sludge Wave?" Ash asked, trying to formulate a new strategy to use against Haunter. Muk nodded in affirmative, readying himself to use the attack.

Before Ash could order the attack to be used, a shadow clad hand burst out from the white cloud and struck Muk squarely. "Shadow Punch, I was wondering when that would come. Muk, use Sludge Wave across the field right now!"

The giant wave of toxic waste that came flooding was staggering, leaving Haunter absolutely no room to dodge. Taking the attack head on dispersed the Haze, and revealed Haunter once again. However, as Haunter became visible Ash was stunned to see that it had recovered nearly completely. –How? Wait a minute, Haunter´s eyes are closed… Ah, Haunter knows Rest, and probably Sleep Talk too, Ash realized.

Just as Ash came to that conclusion Haunter glowed slightly and a Fire Punch was launched from the still sleeping Pokémon. "Dodge that and use Flamethrower!"

Sliding quickly to the side, Muk received zero damage and managed to release its Flamethrower directly unto Haunter sleeping form. "Now go, Pokéball!" The still sleeping Haunter was drawn into the Pokéball and caught cleanly. Ash breathed a huge sigh of relief, "Ok, that was though. Haunter has sure gotten strong; you did great Muk."

First now did Ash deign to observe the remaining battleground, only to see a wasteland of scorched earth and poisoned plants. In addition to the large crowd that had gathered, Sabrina stood there with her mouth gaping at the display of power. "Eh, sorry about your garden Sabrina," Ash apologized sheepishly, a hand rubbing the back of his head.

Sabrina mutely nodded, her voice failing her. As the adrenaline slowly faded from his veins, Ash recognized the smell of Muk´s distinctive toxins and the warmth from the fire type attacks that had ravaged the field. The wind had picked up and the clouds in the sky had darkened considerably, a few droplets signaling the impending rainstorm. "Muk return," Ash ordered, and the powerful Sludge Pokémon obeyed instantly, allowing the red beam to retract him into the Pokéball.

"Pidgeot let´s go! Onwards to Mt. Silver!" Ash ordered, as he climbed onto Pidgeot´s back. The powerful bird beat her wings once, taking off in a burst of wind. Quickly climbing in altitude, the Pokémon and her trainer left the crowd on the ground just as the downpour started. A lightning flash lit up the sky, casting a powerful shadow from the young trainer that had just left. The dispersing crowd muttered as they left, leaving the powerful Psychic that was their Gym Leader alone to stare after the young man.

 **A/N:**

 **That was the first chapter of my new fanfiction. I welcome constructive criticism and will endeavor to improve with it. I would hope to not get flames, but if you need it bring them on. Any questions I will try to answer, though I might not if I feel they reveal to much of my thought out plot.**


	2. The Arrival on Mt Silver

**A/N: I haven´t gotten any comments or such at the start of this chapter, which isn´t really weird considering I uploaded the first chapter (The Prologue, even though I forgot to actually specify that) about 2 minutes ago when I´m starting this. I decided that chapter should be around 6000-9000 words each and the last one landed there, and I found a spot I felt was good for a chapter ending. I will still try to incorporate new ideas and such that I receive from you guys, and I will answer questions at the end of this chapter** _ **if I get them before I post it**_ **.**

 **This chapter revolves around the arrival on Mt. Silver, and a few surprises or not so surprises if you are smarter than I have given you credit for. Sorry if that´s the case, but I ain´t too confident in people nowadays.**

 **I´m still not the best at spelling or punctuation. And seeing as I forgot to actually put it in the first upload:**

 _ **I do not in any way own Pokémon or its creations. I make no money off of this and am simply writing this for the fun of it!**_

Chapter 1:

The Mount Silver Welcome!

As Pidgeot climbed high into the air, with Ash still clinging to her back, the wind got rougher and rougher. Pikachu hid inside Ash´s jacket, not too keen on battling the wind on his own. The lightning flashed around them as Pidgeot floated on the wind forwards, neither her nor her trainer too concerned about the weather.

The cold rain stabbed at her feathers and had completely drenched Ash, but it was naught more than a minor inconvenience to them. A sudden gust of wind knocked her slightly off course and sent her directly into the path of a thunderbolt. "Pikachu?" Ash asked confidently, trusting completely in his partner.

The yellow powerhouse nodded and appeared from Ash´s jacket, situating himself on Pidgeot´s head, directly in front of Ash. From his position, he redirected or simply absorbed the lightning that flew too close. After about 20 minutes of the constant battle against storm winds and lightning bolts both Pikachu and Pidgeot started feeling the strain, and though Ash was confident that his friends could overcome the weather for a long while yet he wasn´t about to allow his friends to be hurt nor break his promise to his mother. 

Which meant that it was better to be safe than sorry, and Ash asked his prideful bird to land in a small clearing he could see in the light from a few lightning flashes around him. Though she bristled, unable to acknowledge that she might have problems navigating the sky in a storm, she followed her order and a few minutes later she touched ground in the small clearing of Viridian Forest Ash had spotted.

The forest was dark and devoid of any wild Pokémon, the storm had driven them back. The raging winds and rushing downpour didn´t worry Ash in the slightest down here on the ground though, and he simply started his short trek down to Viridian City. 

-I wonder what time it is? The sun disappeared before I left Vermilion and I do tend to lose track of time when I train or battle, Ash thought to himself and raised his new X-Transceiver to check the time. According to the X-Transceiver, the clock had already passed 17.00 and was drawing closer to 17.30. Ash´s eyes widened slightly, he had never thought his excursions today had taken so long. 

He laughed easily and heartily, as he trekked through the dense forest. Though it took him a lot longer than he had first thought he reached Viridian before the day was through, drenched to the bone and extremely tired.

"Welcome to Viridian, how might I assist you?" the Nurse Joy welcomed him as he passed the threshold of the Pokémon Center. "Well, I need a room for the night, and I would like a bite to eat if you have anything?" Ash answered. Nurse Joy looked up from her computer and looked directly into Ash´s face, her eyes lighting up in recognition. "Young Ash Ketchum, you have come a long way from the first time you entered my Pokémon Center the first time," she stated mildly amused.

"You recognize me? I mean you meet dozens if not hundreds of trainers each day, and you recognize me out of all of them? I´m honored," Ash bowed deeply to the young woman behind the counter. Her soft thrilling laughter sounded heavenly to his ears, making him smile softly. The scent of fresh bread and a few dozen plants floated through the tranquil white painted room.

"Well, how could I not? The very first visit you had here you protected my Pokémon Center against Team Rocket, and just today a picture of you sitting side by side with Lance in conversation was released as a preview of the Champion´s interview tomorrow evening. I do believe you are the subject of that interview?" she teased the young trainer, making him blush in embarrassment.

"Eh, maybe? I mean I did meet Lance earlier today, but I don´t see how I´m that interesting to anyone." Nurse Joy laughed heartily at the look on the young man´s face, her experience pointing to the fact that the shy and humble trainers usually proved more interesting than the bragging and outgoing type. "Well I…What are you doing here!?" she exclaimed midway through her next comment and shouted towards the door. 

Behind Ash Team Rocket had entered the Pokémon Center, though they displayed none of their usual vigor. In fact, they seemed quite beaten and bruised, James was even bleeding from a wound on his temple. Ash, even though he mistrusted the three of them, had to admit it did seem they hadn´t come to fight. "What happened to the three of you? Tried stealing the Pokémon of a trainer that wasn´t as nice as I am?" Ash asked condescendingly, feeling no pity for the three of them at all.

"No, actually we have quit the thievery business," Jessie answered quietly, somehow whatever had happened had quelled her temper significantly. "Really? I find that hard to believe," Ash responded, though he was curious why the three of them smelt like gasoline. "I understand that, but we speak the truth," James answered, cutting in before Jessie had a chance to respond. "Yeah, not that we really had a choice," Meowth continued, several injuries visible on his body.

"Explain," Ash beckoned them, he was still tense but he´d at least allow them to explain themselves. "The boss kinda fired us," Meowth answered, wincing as he strained his side. "You were fired?" Ash asked incredulous, not understanding how you get fired from a criminal team. "We were. The boss…Giovanni, wasn´t pleased with our constant failures so he tried eliminating us," Jessie explained further, tears slowly trickling from her eyes.

"Eliminating?" Nurse Joy gasped, horrified at what they were saying. "Well, it isn´t like he managed," James joked crudely, coughing a small amount of blood into his hand. "Wait here I´ll get some first aid kits, and take a look at your injuries," Nurse Joy stated, before walking hurriedly from the room to fetch her supplies. 

"He really threw you away for your failures? Just like that?" Ash asked in disbelief, he had always found that Jessie, James, and Meowth had one redeeming quality in their loyalty. Even though said loyalty was misplaced in his opinion, and now he had been proven correct. 

The previously pleasant smells of bread and flowers had by now been overtaken by the metallic scent of James´ blood and a kind of pungent odor Ash associated with the poison type attack Acid. "Aye, said he had no use for agents that couldn´t even win over a child and told a few grunts to take care of us," Meowth answered, his throat constricted as he was nearly overcome by emotion. "Luckily for us, we weren´t made agents for our failures," James grinned, "Before you, we had a nearly flawless record of success. Guess that didn´t count for anything in Giovanni´s eyes after our failures with you." His voice had grown hard upon the mention of Giovanni, a steely glare in his eyes.

He turned to Ash, looking him in the eye, "I won´t apologize, and I don´t expect forgiveness or even pity from you. Right now I simply want to get through the night, so I can have a choice in where to go from the morning."

Ash nodded, he didn´t feel pity for the three of them even if they had been treated so horribly, and he had a long process before he could forgive them. "Alright, I will be finding a bed anyways," Ash said before he walked off in the direction of the guest rooms of the Pokémon Center leaving the three behind. 

-I wonder if I´ll ever be able to forgive the troubles Team Rocket have caused for me in the past, Ash thought to himself. "Pii-pika-pi-pikapi-chu," Pikachu tried communicating with his partner. "I know, Pikachu. Trust me I know, but it isn´t that easy," Ash yawned, "Never mind that for tonight, go to sleep buddy." Ash fell asleep nearly the second his head hit the pillow, snoring slightly as Pikachu sat by his side in silent contemplation.

As the morning sun hit his face, Ash let out a groan and moved his hand to block the rays from hitting his eyes. "Good morning, Pikachu," were the first words out of his mouth, before he opened his eyes and saw that Pikachu was nowhere in his room. "Pikachu?" Ash rose his voice slightly, trying to ascertain if he just didn´t see Pikachu. When he got no response he decided to head downstairs and see if Pikachu had gone to Nurse Joy to get a bite to eat in the early morning hours instead of waiting for him.

In the lobby, he did indeed find Pikachu and Nurse Joy, but Team Rocket too sat at the breakfast table eating slowly and savoring every minute of the food. "Good morning," Ash made his presence known. The smells of cinnamon and strawberry jam came to his nose from the table, along with toasted bread and a multitude of others. "Pika!" Pikachu squeaked and jumped into his arms.

James had a bandage around his head, only small amounts of his blue hair showing through the openings, and Jessie had let her hair down allowing it to flow down her back like a cascading scarlet waterfall. Meowth also had a bandage wrapped around his torso, and one of his claws was in a sling. "How are you three feeling?" Ash asked casually, almost stoically if you knew him. "I´ve been better, kid," Meowth answered with a shrug, before going back to his juice and sausages.

Ash smiled lightly and turned to Jessie and James, "How about the two of you?" James wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin, straightening his back. "I am feeling better, thank you." Before Ash could continue, James interrupted him. "I said last night that I wouldn´t apologize. That wasn´t entirely true, I do want to apologize. I didn´t want you to think the apology came from me being about to die," he explained shortly, bowing his head to Ash. "My most sincere apologies for all the misfortune and problems I have caused for you."

The sudden apology and the sincerity of the words came as a shock to Ash, who had no way to respond before Jessie continued after her longtime partner and friend. "I also wish to apologize to you. My actions in themselves are inexcusable, but I regret ever joining Team Rocket to make them in the first place. I was... _We_ were young and dumb when we joined, and we never truly took in the consequences of our actions. And for that I apologize," by the end of it, she had the slight glimmerings of tears in her eyes. 

"I…I don´t know what to say to this. I can´t forgive you, not right now or so fast. I can, however, allow you a new chance to prove you really mean what you say," Ash answered slowly, uncertainly at first but growing more confident. "Travel the world as honest trainers, find something to pride yourself in, something to fight for. And perhaps if I can say I respect you not only as trainers but as persons when next we meet I might be able to forgive you then." 

James and Jessie looked at one another, their eyes meeting and a silent conversation was spoken in the span of a few seconds. "That is better than what we hoped for," Jessie stated with a slight smile on her lips, a thoughtful look on her face. "I did enjoy being a coordinator, perhaps I should travel as one?" she mused quietly, making James smile beside her. "You should, I really enjoyed your performances and I will be with you every step of the way," he assured her, a smile on his face.

The Pokémon Center had started to wake, near silent chatter drifting from the guest rooms and aromas of flowers mingling with the delicious smells of food. Ash took a deep breath, enjoying the peaceful sensation in the air. He rose from the table, smattering a napkin to his mouth to wipe the sausage grease from it and headed towards the entrance. "Then you have your answers, the road lies clear in front of you. I wish you luck," he told the three over his shoulder and walked out into the cool morning air.

"Pidgeot, let´s go!" The large avian screeched loudly as she appeared standing on the pavement, her large wings stretching to the sides. Ash laughed, running his fingers gently through her plumage, "We should continue onwards to Mt. Silver, girl." "Kid." Ash turned around to see James standing behind him, his hands crossed in front of his chest. "What´s up?" James seemed uncertain if he should continue, but apparently decided it was best to finish what he had begun. "I wanted to give you this," he stated, a large envelope in his hand that had been offered to Ash. "It isn´t meant to bribe or buy you. It´s a thank you for the opportunity you have given us, and a sort of restoration payment for some of the trouble we have given you over the years."

Ash rose an eyebrow but accepted the envelope. "I guess we might see each other around then…James," he added the name at the end hesitantly. "We will see, won´t we…Ash," James responded quietly and headed back into the Pokémon Center. 

Ash climbed onto Pidgeot´s back, grabbing hold with his legs and signaled her to take off. The storm had died off during the night, giving way to a calm sunny dawn, allowing Ash and Pidgeot to simply relax as they drifted silently towards Mt. Silver. 

-It´s curious, my journey has had its ups and downs, the downs mostly caused by Team Rocket, and yet I find myself already missing the three of them. The last week alone has changed my journey in ways I couldn´t have imagined before, Ash´s mind floated in a lake of flowing thoughts.

The travel between Viridian and Mt. Silver was the longest one he and Pidgeot had traveled before, and Ash used this extra time to think up training schedules and routines. –Ah! I can call Professor Oak and talk to him while we fly! Ash suddenly thought, raising his X-Transceiver. A few presses later and his X-Transceiver was calling the Professor´s number. Due to the wind blowing around him Ash decided that it might be prudent to use the ear-plug that had followed with the X-Transceiver.

"This is Professor Oak´s lab, who am I… Good morning, Ash. How nice of you to call," Professor Oak answered the phone in his usual jovial mood. "Good morning, Professor. I´m currently flying Pidgeot from Viridian City, had a few more errands last night. I was wondering if there is a way to check my Pokémon´s moves? I found that I didn´t know Muk´s current moves since it was so long since we battled together last."

The winds whistled around his ears and hadn´t he chosen to use the ear-plug he might well have missed the Professor´s reply. "Oh, why yes there is. The Pokédex has a feature that allows for just that, it allows you to check all the information on your Pokémon that I have. And I do mean _your_ personal Pokémon, Ash. I find out everything I can while they stay with me to better care for them."

-I hadn´t realized, Ash thought to himself feeling slightly stupid. "Oh, and while we´re talking is it possible that you might increase my carry limit? I mean Lance said that as an…" "Already done it. Didn´t you wonder why Primeape and Haunter´s Pokéballs are still with you? I raised your carry limit shortly after you left, I forgot to mention it while you were here. Let me tell you, your Pokémon did not approve in the slightest. I was going to inform you when you called me from the Mt. Silver Pokémon Center…Which I now remember I forgot to inform you about… How forgetful have I become?" Professor Oak started to muse aloud.

"Not important. My carry limit is increased and there´s a Pokémon Center on Mt. Silver, any more information I need to know while I have you on the phone?" Ash asked, a tad bit concerned about the Professor starting to become forgetful. "Not that I can think of right now…So there is definitely something, I´ll call you on this number when I remember. I think I should get checked," Professor Oak said mildly, though you could detect a tinge of fear in his voice.

"I´m sure it's nothing Professor," Ash tried reassuring the old man, who looked older than he had before. "Thank you for trying Ash, but I fear this isn´t nothing," Professor Oak stated his closing words before the call was ended from his end. 

After another two hours, the flight between Mt. Silver and Viridian City being both longer and more taxing than any other, Pidgeot touched the ground at the bridge that led into the Mt. Silver Preserve. –I assume I need to find the Preservation Center and inform the Rangers of my presence, Ash thought to himself as he slowly crossed the bridge.

At the very same second he had full crossed the bridge and stood ground in the Mt. Silver Preserve, a huge explosion rocked the air and Ash saw the dust cloud billow into the sky above the trees. "Let´s go, Pikachu! Someone might need help!" Ash exclaimed before the two rushed toward the explosion site. 

Shortly before he arrived at the spot the first explosion had happened, the boom of another explosion reverberated throughout the forest. As Ash burst into the clearing he heard a harsh voice spit, "Come on it´s just one lousy Pokémon, keep it under control!"

Not even having to think about it Ash realized that these were poachers, trying to catch one of the protected species of Mt. Silver. "Bulbasaur and Squirtle help me out!" The two first stage Pokémon appeared looking ready for battle, narrowed eyes and crouched positions.

In front of Ash were four black-clad men, one in a trench coat of some sort and three in uniforms that reminded him of Team Rocket´s. Along with them were six Pokémon, two Graveler, two Golbat, one Houndoom and one Golem. "What the heck?!" the trench coat wearing man exclaimed, probably the leader by Ash´s reckoning. "Squirtle use Hydro Pump and Bulbasaur use Razor Leaf!" Ash roared, his mind furiously strategizing for how he would beat these four. 

Apparently, the poachers weren´t much good as trainers since both the Gravelers were defeated in the very first exchange of attacks. "What the…?! Who is this kid!?" one of the grunts yelled, returning his Graveler. The leader squared himself against Ash, calling the Houndoom and one Golbat to him. "Don´t know, don´t care. Golem keep that merchandise down, Kane and Josh help Golem. Trevor get the truck, we need to get out of here in a hurry," he commanded, giving further credence to his role as the leader. 

He snarled towards Ash, cracking his knuckles to ready himself for the battle. "Houndoom use Flamethrower to roast that plant, and Golbat use Air Slash on the turtle!" he commanded of his Pokémon. "Squirtle cover for Bulbasaur with Water Gun! Pikachu Thunderbolt the Air Slash away!" Ash commanded, deciding that playing by the book wasn´t how these battles went. Once upon a time, he would have been fighting fair, but he had long since come to the conclusion that fair wasn´t needed against criminals. 

Pikachu sprang from his shoulder, releasing a devastating Thunderbolt which completely evaporated the Air Slash and clipped Golbat in one blow. Squirtle, however, wasn´t having any such luck, as the Houndoom proved to be way stronger. "Bulbasaur strike Houndoom with Vine Whip, and muzzle him!"

-It worked against Harrison, so it should work here too, Ash thought to himself. After all, Bulbasaur was more experienced than Bayleef and should be able to replicate the event. Ash was proven fallible though as Houndoom took the attack, but broke the muzzling after just a few seconds. "Now Pikachu use Thunderbolt and Squirtle use Hydro Pump!"

The combination attack neared Houndoom in record time, but Houndoom´s trainer snapped his fingers. Obviously, a signal of some sort, since Houndoom threw itself out of the way. The attack being a complete miss, and allowing Houndoom to escape didn´t sit right with Bulbasaur. Without being commanded Bulbasaur used his Vine Whip and lifted Houndoom into the air, before smashing it into the ground as hard as he could. 

Houndoom managed to get to its feet, but it staggered greatly. Behind the criminal leader, Ash spotted a net and correctly assumed that the Pokémon they had captured was trapped within it. "Bulbasaur! Leave Houndoom and use Razor Leaf on that net!"

Trusting fully in his trainer Bulbasaur did exactly as Ash asked, launching his Razor Leaf towards the net. A few of the leaves actually almost cut Ash´s opponent as Bulbasaur´s target was directly behind him. "Shit, the net!" the leader, the only unnamed of the criminals, roared to his accomplices. There was no react fast enough to stop the leaves from shredding the net and releasing the Pokémon within, and a blue floating Pokémon was revealed. "Pupitar!" it roared, and Ash recognized it as the evolved form of Larvitar.

"Squirtle use Hydro Pump, Bulbasaur fire Solarbeam and Pikachu use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, capitalizing on the criminals' shock. The attacks crashed into their targets, taking out Houndoom, and the last Graveler and Golbat. The area that the battle had been fought in looked like a ravaged badland with deep trenches and singed ground. "Pupitar!" the freed Pokémon roared and slammed into the ground causing the ground to shake uncontrollably. –Pupitar´s using Earthquake! Ash thought desperately, returning both Squirtle and Bulbasaur. Pikachu had terrible difficulty on the ground and jumped back onto Ash´s shoulder, trusting him to be able to keep his balance. 

The poachers had already gotten flung to the ground from the powerful seismic activity, and only their leader was partially on his feet. "Golem, respond with Hyper Beam!" the leader shouted, looking a tad bit queasy. The powerful orange blast shot from Golem´s mouth towards Pupitar, who simply floated to the side and thus completely dodged the attack. In retaliation an orb of purple energy condensed in front of Pupitar´s mouth, before the powerful attack was sent at high speed to crash into the already damaged Golem. –And a Dark Pulse, Ash thought in recognition of the attack.

As the dust from the explosion settled it was easy to recognize that Golem was completely defeated, having been knocked out with swirls in its eyes. "Shit! Move out!" the leader commanded, spinning on his heels to flee into the forest. Only to realize there would be no escape this day. In front of him stood two Rangers and a rather nasty looking Tyranitar with chipped armor on her chest. –Isn´t that…Yes, it is, that´s Larvitar´s mother! Ash screamed in his mind as he recognized the behemoth. 

"Alright, the four of you are coming with us! You´re under arrest!" the rangers spoke with authority. "Four? Wait a minute! I´m not one of them, I was trying to help Pupitar!" Ash protested, only for the Ranges to scoff. "Trying to abandon you´re friends because you´ve failed, very original crook!" 

Ash nearly exploded in anger. It was one thing to misunderstand that he was there to help, but another matter entirely to mock him and call him both a coward and a liar. "Now you listen here…!" Ash started, almost taking a step forward. The Rangers seemed to tense, ready to fight when a Hydro Pump struck the ground in front of them. "Jackson! Millicent! Back off, right this instant!" a familiar voice ordered from above them. 

Ash glanced upwards, meeting Mason´s gaze. "Mason, it´s good to see you again," Ash acknowledged the leader of the Preserve Team. Mason jumped down, sliding down the hillside as if she was riding a snowboard on an icy slope, and came to a halt midway between the Rangers and Ash. Beside her was a large blue alligator Pokémon with red fins going down its back. "I see your Croconaw evolved into Feraligatr."

"He did indeed, long time no see Ash. I expected you here yesterday when I got Professor Oak´s call, what happened?" his old friend responded, her back straight and a loose smile on her lips. Ash laughed nervously, "Well I met up with an old friend in Vermilion and got back my Primeape in addition to Squirtle, and decided to see if another old friend would come with me in Saffron. And then the storm happened." He rushed his explanations, making Mason burst out in laughter.

"Well I see you´ve met another of your old friends then," she stated. Seeing the confused expression on Ash´s face, she pointed to the Pupitar. "He´s the Larvitar you brought back." Following that statement, Ash blinked several times rapidly, before almost shrieking, "WHAT!?" "Pupi-Pu-Pupitar," the Pupitar gently rumbled, nudging Ash with its head. Before Ash could say anything Pupitar floated over to and seemed to converse with Tyranitar, almost as if he wanted something and was asking permission.

When Tyranitar nodded its head with a wide grin on its face, Pupitar returned to Ash´s side happily and flipped in the air. "What?" Ash asked, not completely understanding what Pupitar wanted. "I think Pupitar wants to come with you, Ash," Mason stated easily and unconcerned. "That isn´t possible, Mason! You know it isn´t allowed to capture Pokémon in the Preserve!" one of the other Ranges cut in angrily, Jackson if Ash remembered correctly.

Mason rose an eyebrow at being scolded by her own employee, "You do realize you work _for_ me right, Jackson? You aren´t my boss or even equal in rank. So what makes you think you can take that tone with me? Especially after you already overstepped your boundaries once today." The stern expression on Mason´s face told Ash that this probably wasn´t the first time Mason had reprimanded Jackson for forgetting the chain of command, something which seemed to annoy the normally mild-mannered Ranger greatly. "Overstepped my boundaries!?" Jackson roared back, "I captured four poachers while you were taking a stroll!" 

Even Jackson´s partner, Millicent, saw that was going too far, as she backed away from the enraged man. " _YOU_ captured four poachers?!" Mason roared right back, " _YOU_ didn´t do anything! Ash captured three of the four poachers in the area, _including_ the leader! What you were doing was trying to arrest an innocent who helped us, _and_ who happens to be friends with Lance himself!" Mason was so angry that spittle flew from her mouth at every word, as she stepped closer to Jackson.

"As for me, I´ve been watching since Ash started battling them! I know Ash, and I knew he didn´t need me getting in his way! Now you will be going back to the Preserve Center, back your bags and be gone by the time I return! You are hereby reassigned from the Preserve Team!" 

Even Feraligatr, Mason´s closest friend and partner, seemed frightened by the amount of rage Mason was displaying towards the male ranger. Jackson paled to the point of being white by the time Mason was done shouting at him, backing away before he threw himself around and sprinted toward the Preserve Center.

"Not that I´m questioning you Mason, but Jackson was sort of right…It isn´t actually allowed to capture Pokémon in the Preserve," Millicent stated cautiously. The area around them had started smelling slightly of sweat and sulfur, mixed with some small hints of urine. "Unless you have the recommendation from a Regional Professor and the Champion Master," Mason explained, pointing to Ash she continued, "Both of which he has."

"Oh," was all Millicent could utter before she bowed and asked Tyranitar to carry the three poachers for her. When she had gone Ash turned to Mason, "I can´t remember getting a recommendation from Lance?" Mason blinked before she sighed. "Don't they teach you anything anymore? You´re an Elite Trainer, Ash. To become one you need the recommendation of a Regional Champion, that´s kind of the reason there aren´t too many of your rank."

"Oh, that was probably what Professor Oak forgot," Ash mused aloud, a hand rubbing his chin. "Well, if I catch Pupitar I´ll have nine Pokémon on me, which of course will still be within my limit. You want to come along, Pupitar?" The last was directed to Pupitar, who was floating nearby waiting to be addressed. "Pu-Pupitar," Pupitar answered, with what Ash assumed was a smile. As Pupitar didn´t retreat or enter a battle stance Ash assumed he didn´t need to battle, and so he simply tapped a Pokéball to Pupitar´s shell.

The familiar red light enveloped Pupitar, drawing him into the Pokéball and catching him with ease. –Well, this is kinda weird, Ash thought to himself. –I was coming here to train my already caught roster and ended up with Primeape returning and two new additions even before the training has started.

"I think I´ll head to the mountain and see if I can find a clearing or something similar to train in, that ok with you Mason?" Ash asked, not wanting to step on the Rangers toes. "Mhm? Yeah sure, I was thinking more what to report to the Ranger Union about Jackson," Mason acknowledged, though she seemed entirely preoccupied.

Ash bowed respectfully to the Ranger and headed into the dense forest surrounding the Mt. Silver peak standing proudly in the distance, the massive peak an intimidating sight. Several places in the forest Ash noticed that the wildlife was paying close attention to him, the many glowing eyes standing starkly in contrast to the shadows.

-Now, what are the most common Pokémon in forests such as these? I know Stantler and Ursaring are regular sightings, and I guess Ponyta and Rapidash wouldn´t be out of place. Tangela, Weepinbell and Noctowl most certainly, and probably Butterfree and Beedrill too, Ash thought to himself. As he walked alone in the forest he calmly analyzed the clearings, water spots and food to get a reading on which Pokémon he had to prepare for. 

About two hours into his trek he ran into the first wild Pokémon attack, a huge Donphan whose territory he had wandered into. "Bulbasaur you´re up!" Ash called his trusted friend to help him. "Alright, let´s start up with Vine Whip!" Ash commanded, jumping back to create some distance between himself and the battle.

Bulbasaur´s vines slapped into Donphan´s chin and sent it careening backward, leaving it open for a Razor Leaf attack, which Bulbasaur released at a slight nod from Ash. The leaves slammed into Donphan´s underbelly, doing massive damage to the wild Pokémon. "Now take it down with Solarbeam!"

Bulbasaur´s quickly charged Solarbeam met heavy resistance from Donphan´s Take Down attack, but in the end, Donphan was sent backward against a tree and knocked out. "Great job, Bulbasaur. We need to have a chat later ok?" Ash praised Bulbasaur before he ended with his question and only returning Bulbasaur upon receiving confirmation. 

Gazing on the downed Donphan, Ash made a decision. Kneeling down by the downed fighter he left two Oran Berries, wishing the Pokémon a speedy recovery and left the clearing.

It took him another three hours to find a spot he felt good about using for training, and so he sat up camp there. By now the sun had started setting and very little sunlight was left, prompting Ash to light a campfire for light.

The training spot had a waterfall and a field of rocks for variety, in addition to a small pond and a few trees inside the clearing. A few meters away from the pond there was a cave going into the mountain, which Ash vowed to check out the following morning.

The day had taken a toll on the young man, he gathered his tent and sleeping bag and laid down to rest for the night. 

As he slept soundly he didn´t recognize the ominous feeling of Ghost-types seeping from the cave, nor did he recognize the screaming you could hear from deep within the cavernous system.

A last shrill scream woke the young man with a start, forcing him to come face to face with a slightly older man sitting by the cinders of his very own campfire.

"Who are you?" Ash asked, only to gasp in recognition at seeing the older man´s bearded face. Sitting by the campfire breathing in short ragged breaths, and looking very much worse for wear, sat his father, Top Ranger Michael Ketchum.

 **A/N:**

 **So I decided to end the chapter there. Partly because I wanted to try my hand at a cliffhanger, which I hope I have managed somewhat ok at least. In addition to that, I have pretty much done what I wanted with this chapter and thought I´d leave some for the next one. So next chapter we´re exploring Michael´s story, the ominous ghost cave and might start the training on top of Mt. Silver.  
**

**Oh, and before I forget, I wanted to thank Dragon´s Blaze pointing me to Grammarly. It´s been a great help.**

 **Till next time!**


	3. The Secrets of Mt Silver s Ghost Cave

**A/N: Alright, chapter 2. All things considered, I think the idea I had for this chapter is good, yet I´m uncertain whether it is a good idea to give it a go. Considering the story is coming out, you can see that I ultimately decided to see how you like it.  
**

 **Oh, and as always:**

 _ **I do not own Pokémon or any of the creations associated with it.**_

 **With that said, please enjoy the chapter.**

The Mystery of Mt. Silver´s Ghost Cave

"Dad?" Ash asked incredulously, not really believing his eyes. The older Ketchum smiled behind his scruffy unkempt beard and nodded slowly. "Hey, Ashura. It´s good to see you," Michael managed to grit out, his voice hoarse. "Good to see me? Good to see me?!" Ash almost roared in anger, "You´ve been gone since I was six, SIX! And that is the only thing you can manage to say!?"

Michael hung his head in shame, a few tears trickling from his eyes. "I didn´t want to be gone for as long as I have, you have every right to be furious with me. But please, allow me a chance to explain," his voice was still hoarse, almost cracking with emotion. Ash narrowed his eyes, but before his father could explain anything Ash handed him a bottle of water he had taken from his backpack. "Here, your throat sounds dry," Ash stated, making sure his father drank something.

"Ah, thank you, Ashura," Michael stated brimming with unshared emotion. He took two greedy gulps of water before he handed the bottle back to the owner. "You see that cave over there?" Michael asked, pointing to the cave just by the pond. He waited for Ash´s acknowledgment before he continued, "That is the cause of the mysterious activity I came here to investigate, and the reason why I haven´t been able to contact anyone or leave," Michael stated in sorrow.

Ash rose an eyebrow in disbelief but held his tongue choosing to wait for his father to elaborate. "The cave itself is inlaid with ancient runes and wall paintings, but those have little to do with the activity. Tell me, Ash, do you know anything about the Pokémon known as Dusclops and Dusknoir?" Ash rubbed his chin a little, trying to think of every bit of information he knew. "I have some passing knowledge about Dusclops, I don´t think I´ve ever heard of Dusknoir before now," he relented after a short while, drawing complete blanks.

"Dusclops is said to have a black hole for a core, erasing its victims from existence, while Dusknoir is kind of a gatekeeper to the spirit world," Michael explained quickly. Ash snapped his fingers, "That´s it, Dusclops are thought to be kidnappers of some sort, but their victims are never found!" Michael nodded, "That is the common misconception yes. Most Dusclops avoid humans so they don´t have to worry about that prejudice, the same with most Dusknoir."

The cold night would have frozen Ash to the bone if the two of them hadn´t reignited the campfire, a whistling wind flying across the clearing. "Well, this cave is house to three exceptions, two of them being malevolent and trying to eradicate human presence here. The last one, a Dusknoir, is trying to stop the other Dusknoir and Dusclops." Michael continued his explanation, gesturing and drawing in the dirt as they talked.

"That explains why you came here, but I´ve yet to hear a reason for why you can´t leave," Ash stated uncertainly, a foreboding feeling sinking into his stomach. Michael smiled ruefully, "Besides the fact that the human presence on Mt. Silver would perish if I left? The bad Dusknoir did something to me, some part of me is trapped here. It is physically impossible for me to leave this place for now."

That was all it took for Ash to decide that the Dusknoir had to be banished. "We need to get rid of the Dusclops and Dusknoir then, but first…We sleep, and you´re calling mum first thing in the morning," Ash all but commanded of his father.

"Eh, you think it's a good idea for me to call Delia?" Michael asked nervously, knowing full well how frightening his wife could be if she got angry. Ash rose a single eyebrow and stared stoically at his father. Michael, figuring his son probably had his stubbornness, lifted his hands in a surrendering motion, "Alright, if you have something I can use, I´ll call Delia tomorrow morning."

Ash nodded, satisfied that his father had relented. –Maybe I should call Lance or Brandon, get a second opinion on this, Ash thought to himself, somewhat suspicious of the fact that his father had suddenly appeared out of nowhere.

Dialing Lance´s number, knowing he could call if he felt it prudent, Ash sat with his back against a tree. A few minutes later, a sleepy Lance appeared on the video. With a large yawn, Lance started, "What is going on, Ash? Knowing you it's important, you rarely call for anything." "I´m guessing you have a little knowledge about Dusclops and Dusknoir?" Ash started, ascertaining whether Lance would be any help at all. Apparently, Lance knew something about the Ghost-types, for he seemed to snap awake at the mention of them.

"What´s up?" he asked again, much more serious now. "I arrived at Mt. Silver earlier today, or yesterday I´m not sure what time it is. Either way, I arrived at Mt. Silver, helper the rangers with a poacher problem and found a training spot."

Lance seemed thoughtful, "So far that´s nothing out of the ordinary, so what´s the problem?" "My dad appeared," Ash stated harshly, not sugarcoating it in the least. That caused Lance to gasp, "Michael Ketchum is alive at Mt. Silver!? That is bigger news, but still what does Dusclops and Dusknoir have to do with that?" Ash took a deep breath, steadying himself before he launched into an explanation of everything he knew.

Ten minutes later Lance seemed rightly terrified, "That is horrible! I need to get to Mt. Silver immediately. You said there were some ruins of some kind there? Then I need Brandon, shit this is bad!" "I´ll be waiting for you here, I assume there´s a GPS tracker on my X-Transceiver you can follow?" At Lance´s nod, the call ended, and Ash prepared himself for a night´s vigil. "Haunter and Pidgeot, I need the two of you here," Ash whispered releasing the two Pokémon.

"There are some bad Ghost-types in the area, I need you two to help me stay awake and vigilant," Ash explained. –Haunter shouldn´t have trouble with the night, and Pidgeot must be used to staying vigilant, he reasoned to himself.

It took just short of ten minutes before the first attack came out of nowhere, a Shadow Ball that Pidgeot simply batted aside with her wing. "I am very aware that you are there, Dusclops, Dusknoir. You can quit hiding," Ash stated with steel in his voice.

The two perpetrators appeared in a mysterious dance of purple flames, not impressing Ash in the least. The Dusknoir charged a Shadow Ball but got hit in the back by a Dark Pulse before it could be fired. The newly arrived Dusknoir had a slightly different color than the other, being more like a blue color where the other was mostly grey. "Dusknoir," it breathed out threateningly towards the other two. "Haunter use Shadow Ball on Dusclops!" Ash commanded, seeing that the other Ghost-types were preoccupied with the newest arrival.

The Shadow Ball exploded upon impacting Dusclops´ back, sending the Pokémon forward straight into the blue Dusknoir´s Shadow Punch. "Just leave me alone, the three of you. I don´t trust any of you at the moment," Ash stated stoically. The blue Dusknoir bowed deeply, respecting his wishes and forced the other Dusknoir and the Dusclops away from the clearing by hurling multiple Shadow Balls after them.

Even though the wild Pokémon were gone, Ash didn´t feel like he could relax. "We´ll stay awake until Lance and Brandon get here, guys," he told the three Pokémon currently out. The three of them confirmed their agreement, fierce looks in their eyes. Michael not having gone to sleep either, opted to sit there and inspect his son´s friends. The level of trust and love between them was evident to the experienced Ranger, who smiled sadly knowing his opportunity to be there for his son had been stolen from him.

Deciding to take a risk, Michael approached his son. "Well, seeing as we aren´t going to get any sleep and I wasn´t present for most of your life… Would you be interested in sharing some of your experiences?" His heart almost exploded in happiness when it didn´t even take Ash a second to start sharing, "Well, back when my journey started I kinda overslept and…"

They sat that way the whole night, Ash sharing some of his many crazy adventures and Michael telling Ash about some of his more dangerous or exciting missions. By the time the morning sun peeked over the mountain the estranged father and son had gotten closer than Michael had ever hoped would be possible after his absence, much less the fact that it happened in such a short amount of time.

"Well, now it´s time to call mum isn´t it?" Ash asked, starting to dial the number on his X-Transceiver. At once Michael sweated bullets, "Oh you do enjoy putting your dad through the ringer don´t you, Ash." He sighed deeply when Ash pressed call but moved over to his son so both of them could see the screen.

Even though it was still technically dawn, and the clock hadn´t passed 6 in the morning yet, Ash was confident that his mother had gotten out of bed and would pick up the phone. The phone was picked up after about two minutes, but it wasn´t Delia that was on the other end. Mimey stood at the other side waving happily to Ash, "Hey, Mimey. Is mum up yet?" Mimey nodded, but then tried miming something to Ash. "Oh, she´s busy right now?" Mimey nodded reaching a hand over his head and brushing across it with the other. "Ah she´s taking a shower," Ash stated, being familiar enough with Mimey to translate his mimes perfectly. Mimey smiled and nodded, holding up two fingers and walking off

Shortly after, Delia walked into view of the videophone wearing a bathrobe, her hair still damp. "Morning mum," Ash greeted her with a smile. "Good morning Ash," Delia smiled back. Michael took a deep breath and moved completely into the view of the camera, allowing Delia to see him. "Morning, Delia." Delia´s eyes widened, tears forming. "Michael?" she asked, her voice nearly breaking. "It´s me, honey," Michael confirmed unsteadily, not really knowing how to talk to the wife he hadn´t seen in almost ten years.

"How? Why? What happened?" she asked stoically, almost like a robot. "I met some unexpected difficulties on the last mission," Michael tried explaining, "A couple of Ghost-types, powerful ones, are wreaking havoc up here. I think one of them used a move like Block or Imprison on me, cause I cannot for the life of me leave here." Delia nodded calmly, though the tears in her eyes still threatened to start running down her face. "Ash? Are you planning on helping your father?" Delia asked delicately, concern tinging her voice. Ash nodded solemnly, "I am." His mother´s face took on an expression of anguish, prompting Ash to try his best at reassuring her. "Don´t worry mum, I´m not planning on doing it alone. I´ve already called Lance, and he is bringing Brandon. They´re both on their way here as we speak."

Delia still seemed concerned, but it had lessened considerably upon learning that Ash was taking his promise seriously and had called in reinforcements. "Alright, I´ll trust you on this, but be careful. I will be having words with you when you´re home, Michael." Her last words spoken almost menacingly, the meaning not lost on neither father nor son. "Alright, I´ll call you when we´ve resolved this, ok mum?"

When Delia nodded, he ended the call and turned to his father. "Well that went well," he stated humorously. Michael looked at him shocked, "That was well? I´m glad it wasn´t bad then." The two laughed together at the shared joke, smiling at each other. Michael clapped his hands, and rose to his feet, "We need breakfast if we are to get anything done today." Ash nodded calmly, "I have some food that only needs boiling water, so if you get the fire burning I´ll go fetch the water."

It took a little while to find the kettle in his backpack, the entirety of which was stuffed with different tools meant for survival and living on the road. Finding a suitable spot by the pond he managed to fill the kettle, returning to find the fire crackling by his father´s feet. "What would you like? I have some premade stew and some noodles," Ash asked, searching for said food items in his backpack. "Stew sounds lovely, but are you sure you want stew for breakfast?" Michael asked curiously.

"Well, it would be preferable to eat something warm after sitting under the open sky for a full night. It did get chilly," Ash answered him with a smile on his face. Michael smiled, "Well I guess I can´t argue with that."

"By the way, dad, where´s your partner? I thought all Rangers have a partner Pokémon?" Ash asked, sitting down and handing the bag of stew to his father. "I sent Weavile back to the Union when I learned that I was trapped here," his father answered. "Why would you do that? How are you helping Dusknoir if you have no Pokémon?" Ash asked curiously, not really understanding his father´s logic.

"A Ranger always has Pokémon, Ash," his father answered, showing his stylus, even though he said it he didn´t seem entirely convinced. "Besides Dusknoir is actually capable of holding the other two contained on his own, but even with my help, we are unable to send them off. Perhaps with you and your friends helping we might be able to."

"We have to hope so don´t we?" a voice sounded from above, revealing Lance slowly descending to the forest floor on the back of his Dragonite. Beside him, Brandon sat seated on an Aerodactyl, somewhat uncomfortably. Shortly after the four of them had gathered around the fire, conversing while Michael and Ash ate their breakfast.

"Last time I heard about something like this we had found a gateway to the spirit world," Brandon explained, "The Ghost-types in the area acted entirely unnatural, and we had to destroy the portal itself to stop the ghostly activity. Later we caved in the chamber, so it wouldn´t be reopened." The others nodded, serious expressions on all of their faces. "The fact that one of the Dusknoir is attempting to halt the others is a good sign," Brandon stated eagerly, "Either that Dusknoir is powerful enough to resist the call of the spirit world or the connection hasn´t fully opened yet."

"I assume that to banish the two malevolent Pokémon we need to send them through the portal before we destroy it?" Lance questioned, attempting to formulate some sort of understanding. Brandon nodded, "That would be best. Though the two might stop acting this way if we remove the portal."

Ash nodded lazily, his attention focused toward the entrance to the cave. The blue Dusknoir had been watching them from there the entire time, occasionally tossing a Dark Pulse or Shadow Ball down the cave. "The only way to know if we can really do something is by going into the cave and seeing this for ourselves," Brandon ultimately decided, getting agreeing nods from the other three.

-Something isn´t right, Ash thought to himself. –That Dusknoir seems way to inclined to help us. Either I´m being paranoid or something´s about to happen.

"You have any Pokémon capable of lighting up a cave?" Lance asked openly. Brandon nodded, "My own Dusclops can have few Will-o-Wisps float around us, should illuminate the way for us."

Hearing what attack Brandon suggested Haunter perked up, "Haunt-Haunter!", floating around them with a large grin on his face. "I think Haunter also knows Will-o-Wisp," Ash explained, a chuckle escaping from his throat. Haunter backed that statement by forming six purple flames that floated in a circular flow around him, causing Brandon and Lance to nod in approval.

"Then allow Dusclops to be our first, and allow Haunter to rest. He can take over if Dusclops becomes too tired for some reason," Brandon suggested. Ash smiled to Haunter and the both of them nodded happily, "Though Haunter will stay out with me, it´s easier to have him out."

With that, the group of four moved towards the cave opening, determined looks on their faces. Ash steadied his breathing as they moved, knowing that he had to keep his nerves under control if he was to succeed down there. "Dusclops come on out!" Brandon called, allowing Dusclops to be released from its Pokéball. "We need your light to guide us through the cave here, my friend," Brandon spoke, addressing Dusclops directly. The grey Ghost-type nodded, before swiftly summoning the ethereal purple flames to swirl around himself.

Ash took a deep breath, taking notice of the smell of wildflowers and berries that clung to the forest. The morning sun had by now come into its own and the warming sensation of sunrays on their backs disappeared abruptly when the group entered the cave.

On the inside, the cave didn´t resemble a cave at all, but rather a hallway from some ancient temple. The walls were covered in runes and drawings, but in styles that Ash had never laid eyes on before. Brandon mused as he gazed at them, "These aren´t Pokélantean or similar to the inscriptions in the Ruins of Alph, hmm I wonder what they´re supposed to say?" Lance glanced a few times around, making sure there wasn´t any threat present.

"I don´t like the feel of this place, the atmosphere seems wrong somehow," he spoke, a shiver coming over his body. –No kidding, the atmosphere here feels heavy. Almost as if it there is something laced into it, Ash thought to himself, carefully stepping on the floor tiles. The smells in the hallways were perhaps even worse, it smelled of rotten plants and decomposing matter. Mold and cobwebs were visible in every nook and cranny of the place, not making it better in the least.

Haunter seemed more relaxed than the humans, though he too had narrowed eyes as if sensing something could go very wrong the very next moment. Just a short while later the first trap of the place triggered, dangerous darts shooting from the walls towards the group. "Dragonair come on out and use Safeguard!" Lance reacted instantly, releasing the blue serpent from her Pokéball. The dazzling white light enveloped the party, and every dart ricocheted away.

Lance breathed a sigh of relief, "That was close." Turning to the others he stated calmly, "We need to be more careful, who knows what other traps might wait for us down here."

-We should have been extremely careful from the start, Ash thought to himself exasperatedly. "Haunter?" the whisper caught Haunter´s attention, and he drifted closer to Ash. "Haunt?" it asked quietly, understanding that its trainer wanted to tell only him this. "Keep an eye out for any other Pokémon down here, would you? I have a feeling that blue Dusknoir isn´t entirely honest with us." Haunter seemed shocked at first but nodded solemnly after just a short while.

The sound of water dripping from the ceiling echoed throughout the hallways, the slight chittering of rats accompanying it. The footsteps of the four humans were easily discernible amidst the deafening silence, a smooth steady rhythm. The shadows seemed to dance in the flickering light of Dusclops´ Will-o-Wisp, casting eerie suspicion over the hallways. "Be ready, Pikachu. This is unlikely to end well," Ash whispered to his longtime partner. His only answer was the yellow rodent´s serious nod, its tail twitching. Between Haunter´s senses in the dark, and Pikachu´s natural instincts Ash was certain that he wouldn´t be overly surprised by any further danger.

The walls had cracks all over them, making the current pictures indiscernible, and seemed to be home to several Spinaraks. –Judging by the amount of Spinarak I´d say we´re meeting Ariados soon, Ash reasoned in his own mind. "Lance, Brandon, does either of your Pokémon know any Fire-type attacks?" Ash asked casually, a few pearls of sweat rolling down his temple. The stress of walking through these corridors taking a toll on him, more so than the adults. "Dragonair knows Flamethrower and Fire Blast, why?" Lance asked curiously before he too noticed the large amount of Spinarak. "Ah, you think the next trap might incorporate Spinarak and Ariados?"

Ash nodded, a slight smirk on his face, which he quickly schooled back to stoicism. Overhearing the exchange Brandon also looked around, coming to much the same conclusion, "Well spotted Ash, I believe you are correct." He nodded to Dusclops, who conjured further Will-o-Wisp orbs and increased the parameter around them. "That should keep them slightly at bay so we have more time to react at least," Brandon stated confidently. The others nodded, trusting Brandon to know what he was speaking about, this was after all one of his specialties.

A couple of Ariados approached the group, but never further than stepping into the light of the Will-o-Wisps. They seemed to simply be observing the group, never taking any hostile action. That ended after approximately an hour of prodding, as the group came to a halt by a large net barring the corridor they were going down. In front of it, a gigantic Ariados lay, a few dozen eggs around her. "Is that an Ariados Queen? I thought most of the Bug-types had stopped living in colonies?" Ash whispered quietly, not wanting to provoke the powerful looking matriarch. Lance nodded mutely, leaning down and whispering directly into Ash´s ear. "Some Bug-type colonies still exist, but this is the first time I have heard of an Ariados colony being found. Mostly it´s a Pokémon called Durant in Unova or the Combee line in Sinnoh."

The giant Ariados rose up to her feet, clicking her pincers threateningly against the approaching humans. "I doubt she´ll let us pass easily," Brandon stated seriously. "Can you befriend her with your stylus, Ranger? We need to move further." Michael shook his head sadly, "I´m afraid not. My stylus doesn´t work perfectly any longer, too many years without proper care." Lance sighed sadly, "Dragonair use Flamethrower, but don´t harm the eggs." The blue serpent nodded, floating forward and releasing a stream of fire directed against the Ariados.

Several other Ariados and Spinarak appeared from several cracks and holes in the walls and ceiling. However, instead of attacking they used their String Shots to grab the eggs and extract them, hiding them from the battle being waged. –Smart, Ash praised the Pokémon in his head. –Instead of joining in and possibly getting in the way of the Queen, they allowed her more space by removing the eggs. She´s now free to battle even harder than before.

The Queen used her own String Shot to hold Dragonair in place, before charging in with a Poison Jab. "Dodge, Dragonair and use Dragon Tail!" Lance ordered, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Though she tried Dragonair was unable to break free of the String Shot, opting at the last second to counter the Poison Jab with her Dragon Tail. The explosion damaged both of the Pokémon, yet neither of them thought much of it. The Queen´s eyes narrowed in anger, several buzzes of outrageous anger escaped her mouth. Suddenly she shot a myriad of Poison Stings forward, surprising both Dragonair and the trainers at her speed. "Shit! Safeguard now!" Lance ordered frantically, pulling his cloak in front of his body to shield himself from any stray needles.

Though most of the needles were stopped by the Safeguard the attack still left a decent amount of damage on Dragonair. Ash whistled, commenting quietly, "That is one powerful Ariados." "Dragonair use Fire Blast!" Lance roared, either not hearing or choosing to ignore Ash´s comment. Releasing the enormous burst of flame in record time Dragonair pushed as much power into the attack as she could, leaving the Ariados no place to hide or dodge in the narrow corridor. "Ariados!" the Queen screamed as she was engulfed by the attack, though when the flames faded she was revealed to still be standing. "What is this Ariados made of!?" Lance complained, motioning for Dragonair to fall back slightly.

Coiling in the air in front of the group, Dragonair awaited her next order. Her latest Fire Blast had blown the giant cobweb to smithereens, the last few remains still burning. The smell of smoke assaulting Ash´s nose, the sting bringing tears to his eyes. The Queen seemed extremely infuriated by the group, refusing to back down even though her legs had become wobbly from the last attack. "Alright, one more attack should do it. Dragonbreath!" Lance shouted, intent on finishing the battle at last. Mustering its last strength to show its defiance Ariados shot several large Sludge Bombs against the green blast of air, though it was for naught. The Dragonbreath slammed through the Sludge Bomb and knocked the Ariados backward into the wall, knocking it completely out in the process.

Seeing their Queen beaten the remaining Ariados and Spinarak backed down and allowed the group to pass in peace. Instead, they focused on bandaging the giant Ariados using multiple layers of their String Shot. "Thoughtful subjects the Queen had," Ash commented as the group of four passed by, walking through the smoking remains of the web. "Considering her power, she has been their Queen for generations. She has probably proven herself to them many times over, and even if it wasn´t for that…Pokémon also knows love for their family Ash, she is probably the mother of every single member of the species living down here," Michael answered him, his explanation straight to the point. The logic had Ash nodding, it did make sense after all.

-Wonder what else these ruins will throw at us before we come to our destination? was the prevailing thought in Ash´s mind, though he wasn´t entirely certain he wanted the answer. "Dragonair, please take a good rest. You deserve it," Lance spoke gently to his Pokémon, withdrawing her into her Pokéball. Turning to the others he said in no uncertain terms, "These ruins are too dangerous to be left open. After we´re done in here, the entrances we can find will be shut and sealed. If that Ariados was any indication of the level of Pokémon in here, the whole of Mt. Silver is in danger." The three other nodded, Ash most of all. –I´m not certain my Pokémon could have defeated that Ariados, least of all without a type advantage, he thought to himself.

As they kept moving, only conversing the minimal amount to focus their attention on their surroundings, the silence seemed to taunt Ash, slowly chipping away at his will. "How far down is this? We´ve been going downward for nearly two hours," Ash stated, his voice betraying his annoyance. Brandon chuckled slightly, amused by the young man´s impatience, "Well judging by our pace, minus the time it took to get past the Queen, I´d say we´re currently about five kilometers down. How long we have left to go though, I haven´t got a clue." Michael laid a hand on Ash´s shoulder squeezing it lightly, "Calm down, Ash. If we lose our cool down here it could end terribly." Ash took a deep breath, struggling to gain control over his emotions again.

"I understand that, but this place is triggering every danger sense I have. It…It´s uncomfortable, extremely," Ash stated, his eyes narrowed and his voice terse. The adults nodded in understanding, but it was Brandon who answered him. "It was the same for me the first times I ventured into places like this, it still happens sometimes to be honest. Whoever tells you archeology is for the weak-minded is a fool, it is possibly the most stressful occupation in our world. It is that stress that is currently eating at you, steel your resolve and we´ll have no problem down here."

Reassured by Brandon´s words, Ash managed to calm himself by taking a few more deep breaths. "Alright, let´s continue onward," Lance suggested, though he too seemed to be somewhat nervous about what else the ruin had in store for them. Walking slowly and carefully along the corridors, fearful of another trap, the group stepped deliberately around suspicious tiles and looked carefully for tripwires. Throughout the ruins, only a few more Pokémon made their presence known, a few Houndoom and Houndour and a couple of Golbat. None of them attacked though, keeping a respectable distance. "Am I the only one that finds it strange that these Pokémon refuse to attack us?" Ash asked, the nagging notion of something in the back of his mind.

"It is strange, but let´s not look a gift horse in the mouth," Brandon responded, and yet he kept a suspicious eye on the few Pokémon around them. As the four men continued the corridor got broader until they entered a large chamber where the blue Dusknoir seemed to be waiting for them. What unnerved Ash though was that the other Dusknoir and Dusclops were nowhere to be seen, and the black ethereal portal behind Dusknoir seemed to shoot tendrils of energy into it. "Eh, dad? I think you were mistaken which was the good and which was the bad Dusknoir," Ash muttered loudly enough for the others to hear. Michael´s eyes widened and then narrowed in anger. "It would appear I have been tricked, the others were probably protecting this portal so others wouldn´t draw power from it."

"You do realize how bad this is? A Dusknoir that´s boosted by the spirit world can be nearly unbeatable," Brandon cut in, sweat running freely down his forehead. The Dusknoir turned around to face them, almost smiling maliciously when it saw who had entered its chamber. "We came here to fight, so fight is what we´ll do," Lance stated confidently, though he seemed a tad bit apprehensive. "Regirock lend me a hand!" Brandon let out one of his most powerful Pokémon, taking the threat extremely seriously. "Dragonite let´s go!" Lance joined him a few seconds later, ushering his absolute strongest Pokémon into the battle. Ash nodded to Haunter, who took its place in the battle formations. Dusknoir seemed amused at this, before he threw a Dark Pulse against Dragonite, deeming this the most immediate threat from just a slight glance.

"Dodge that, and use Dragonbreath!" "Aid Dragonite by using Stone Edge!" Ash signaled Haunter to wait for an opening, searching for a weakness against the powerful foe. The Dusknoir skillfully dodged the Dragonbreath and simply fazed through the Stone Edge, completely avoiding damage. "Now Haunter use Shadow Ball!" Having no time to turn immaterial again Dusknoir was hit tremendously by the incoming Shadow Ball and sent spinning backward. "Use the opportunity to send a Zap Cannon its way, Regirock!" Brandon followed up, the powerful Electric-attack crashing into Dusknoir just seconds after. The Dusknoir blasted the dust cloud away moments later, revealing it to be fairly undamaged by the two consecutive attacks.

"Haunter use your Dark Pulse!" As the attack flew towards the Dusknoir, Lance saw an opening when Dusknoir dodged to the left. "Now Dragonite use Dragon Rush!" The incredibly powerful attack slammed headfirst into Dusknoir, who was sent crashing into the wall. "Follow up with a Fire Blast!" "Zap Cannon!" "Use Dark Pulse!" Three tremendous attacks crashed into the Dusknoir with enough force to rock the entire chamber, dust and debris falling freely from the roof. Still, the Dusknoir got up, looking powerful but winded. "Still want to complain about the Ariados, Lance!?" Brandon yelled to the shell-shocked Champion. "How is that thing still standing!?"

"Dusk-NOIR!" the Dusknoir roared, firing two quick Dark Pulses hitting both Haunter and Regirock. Being struck by the super effective attack hurt Haunter incredibly, but he held on as his tenacity did not allow him to falter. Regirock shrugged the attack off, it´s incredible defenses and durability coming to its best use. "One more attack!" Lance roared, frustrated. "Use Draco Meteor!" Brandon´s eyebrows shot up but he grinned, "Zap Cannon once more!" "Alright, Haunter one more Dark Pulse!" Ash commanded.

The Draco Meteor in and of itself was devastating, but couple in the Zap Cannon and Dark Pulse and the foundation of the mountain shook. The Dusknoir was now damaged and panting, but not out for the count. "Dusclops!" a shout greeted them from behind, the grey Pokémon jumping past them and grabbing onto the injured enemy. "What are you doing?!" Brandon yelled and was about to intervene, but the last Dusknoir grabbed his arm, shaking its head sadly. With a massive strain of effort, the wild Dusclops launched itself and the evil Dusknoir into the portal.

"Dus-Dus-Dusknoir," the wild Dusknoir motioned gently, charging a Dark Pulse and firing it into the pillars creating the portal. "He wants us to destroy the portal," Brandon stated confidently. "Let´s help him out, Regirock." The large rocky behemoth beeped, and slowly started smashing bits of the pillars. "Dragonite use Hyper Beam to help out," Lance said quietly, sitting down to take a breather. It was evident that the pillars and arch of the portal had been reinforced tremendously, as it took the three powerhouses nearly an hour to completely destroy it.

The portal, now unstable without its anchoring arch, ebbed out and vanished in a slight flash of purple light. "Dusknoir," the Dusknoir bowed deeply to the group before it disappeared into the roof of the chamber. Ash breathed heavily, more relaxed than before but still tense. "Holy, I´m glad that´s over," he breathed out, causing the other three men to laugh. "That was indeed more difficult than I ever thought it´d be, my respect for you has grown Brandon," Lance smiled to the archaeologist. "Well I´m glad, but even I must admit this is probably one of the hardest temple runs I´ve ever done. And I didn´t even have the chance to study anything," Brandon sighed wistfully.

Lance seemed to rub his chin, thinking hard about something. "Can your Regis seal up the three entrances to this chamber?" Brandon perked up, understanding where Lance was going with the question. "Seal the portal chamber and allow myself and other archaeologists access to the rest? I can do that," he laughed happily. Only a moment later all three Regis were free of their confines and ready. "All right we´re sealing this chamber, regular drill. We´re starting with the entrance over there," Brandon commanded, pointing his Regis over to one of the entrances. "Eh, Brandon?" Ash asked, getting the other´s attention. "What is it, Ash?"

"Do you know which entrance we came through?" Three confused looks met his own, and he realized that during the battle none of them had paid attention to their movements. Which meant they didn´t know which entrance they came in through, and which would definitely take them out. A tad sheepish Brandon answered, "No, I don´t. We´ll seal two and walk the last, it will take us out." He sounded confident, and that seemed to be enough for Michael and Lance so Ash decided to drop it. "Alright," he stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

The process of holing up the entrances took near enough no time at all, the Regis and Brandon experienced in just this sort of work. "Alright, ready to go?" Brandon asked, shortly after the second entrance had been sealed tightly. Ash gazed over the formerly immaculate chamber to survey the destruction they had wrought. The arch had been smashed, and the pieces spread out on the floor, dirt, and dust littered everywhere. The tight air had already forced Ash to ignore the stenches over the area, but he could guess by seeing the mold and undiscernible substances lying around. As the four stepped into the last corridor, Brandon turned around and ordered the Regis to seal up the last entrance to the chamber.

It was evident immediately that this wasn´t the same corridor they had walked into. The primary evidence of this fact was the braziers and torches lighting up the corridor with bright blue flames burning. –Well, this isn´t eerie at all, Ash thought sarcastically. "Haunter take a rest, you´ve earned it," he spoke aloud, returning the smiling Ghost-type to his Pokéball. While Brandon finished the sealing, Ash took a look around, wanting to be forewarned. He found scratches and gauges in the floors and a few scorch mark in the walls.

"Lance? Which Fire-type walks on all fours and has powerful claws?" he asked curiously, the only two coming to his mind being Arcanine and Houndoom. "There are a few, but the only ones you might find in Johto is Arcanine, Houndoom, and Ninetales, why?" Ash pointed out the gauges on the floor and the scorch marks on the wall. "Those rule out Ninetales," Lance mused, "They have powerful claws, but they walk with the claws withdrawn."

Lance seemed to inspect the walls himself before he continued, "We´re dealing with a powerful Houndoom, probably same league as the Ariados from before." Ash rose an eyebrow, not vocalizing the question. Lance laughed slightly and beckoned him over, "Rub your hand over this point here." Curious Ash did as asked, feeling the slight bumps under his fingertips. "There are indents in the wall? How does that translate to a Houndoom?" Michael cut in immediately, enjoying explaining these things to his son. "Their horns, Ash. The horns grow from the day they evolved until the day they die, and they itch. So a Houndoom will scratch their heads and horns by head-butting walls, rocks, and trees."

"So the indents prove the presence of a Houndoom, and it must be a powerful one to leave the indents in the first place," Ash repeated, memorizing the new information about Houndooms. Michael nodded with a smile on his face, turning to Brandon. "We ready to go?" "Oh I have been ready for a few minutes already, I was waiting for you to finish," Brandon stated mirthfully. Brandon had already withdrawn his Regis, standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well this corridor seems a lot friendlier," Ash stated, "The fires do allow us to see at least." "Yeah they do, but I´m still anxious to meet that Houndoom," Lance complained. Hearing the might Champion complain brought a smile to Ash´s lips, and Brandon outright laughed. "We won´t," Brandon stated easily. "Why do you think we won´t?" Lance asked annoyed, apparently, it didn´t sit right with his pride to be laughed at. "Because we´re outside," Brandon answered, a calm smile on his lips, as the sunlight broke the shadows around them. Once again the warmth returned to the group of four, and the seriousness and tension lifted its hold.

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, that´s chapter 3, I do hope you liked it. I decided to include something I don´t think I´ve seen before, to really make the story original. I decided to bring in Lance and Brandon to showcase that Ash isn´t going to be doing things the same way that you have seen before.  
**

 **I figured that calling in reinforcements and actually forewarning someone was a more mature thing to do, and considering Ash is supposed to be nearly 16 I felt he needed some maturity at least. I do hope you enjoyed, and feel free to give me some criticism as long as it shows something I can improve.**

 **Till next time!**


	4. Mt Silver Training Camp

**A/N:**

 **I haven´t seen any reviews or anything of the sort on the previous chapter, as I have adopted a new publishing schedule. Before I publish one chapter the one after it should be finished or at least have a pretty good start. That way I can actually have something to work with regardless.**

 **So any questions on the last chapter will be answered at the bottom if of course they are submitted before my next chapter after this is done. I really liked the last chapter myself, but I look forward to your reactions to it.  
**

**Oh and one more note before I start the chapter: I don´t plan on showing every bit of the training on Mt. Silver. I´ll probably show some of it, important parts like evolutions for example, but mostly I think it will appear in flashbacks and the like. The reason for that is that with my writing style we would reach chapter 15 before I actually get Ash moving to Sinnoh, and I feel I´ll have lost quite a few of you by then.**

 _ **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products. Just so you know, oh and this is for fun, not profit!  
**_

**Let´s begin, Chapter 3!**

The Time in Training!

"Alright, Bulbasaur just a few more repetitions now!" Ash encouraged his Grass-type. Currently, he has found himself a quiet spot, well it _was_ , to train his Pokémon in peace. The temple run he did together with Brandon and Lance had hit the news the day after it happened, nearly two weeks ago now, and he had actually been accosted by reporters on _Mt. Silver_ of all places. How they knew he was here or got access, Ash hadn´t a single clue, but the fact of the matter was they had and did. 

Across the clearing, his first rotation was finishing their basic training, stamina, and strength mostly. The boulder Bulbasaur was currently lifting with his vines weighted significantly more than himself, probably in the hundreds somewhere. His other Pokémon, of course, weren´t slacking and were doing their own training. Muk and Primeape were roughhousing, trying to build their strength, while Haunter and Pidgeot were racing in an effort to build speed and agility. 

Kingler had gotten really into heavy lifting and was currently lifting a boulder nearly two times Bulbasaur´s with his largest pincer. Squirtle was currently involved in resistance and dodging practice with Pikachu, where he had to dodge Pikachu´s electric attacks to improve on his own shortcomings. Pupitar was destroying rocks by crashing into them, building a harder shell.

Of course, Ash didn´t sit around either and was in full swing training right alongside his Pokémon. In the morning they would all go for a run, before breakfast, and in the afternoon all of them had strength conditioning. In the evening they each had to find one area to focus on, and Ash would rotate which one he would have one on one training with. Tonight, that was Bulbasaur. -I still haven´t brought up the fact that I think Bulbasaur can´t get much stronger as he is, Ash thought to himself sadly. –Maybe it´s time?

"Bulbasaur hold up. I need to talk to you about something, in fact, I need Squirtle for this too," he reminded himself at the last second, knowing the two would prefer to have this conversation while both were present. "Squirtle, Pikachu, come over here!" he called out, ignoring Bulbasaur´s inquisitive look. When both Bulbasaur and Squirtle were seated in front of Ash, and Pikachu had taken his customary place on Ash´s shoulder, Ash started slowly. "Ok, here´s the deal. I won´t force you two to do anything, but… I think the two of you have hit a wall in your growth," Ash stated seriously. Seriously enough that every one of his Pokémon halted in what they were doing upon hearing his tone, slowly approaching the seated group.

Bulbasaur and Squirtle seemed to nod in understanding, they themselves having felt no progress. "I think… I think it might be time to consider evolving," Ash finished, locking eyes with his two first stage Pokémon. He expected Bulbasaur to deny this heavily, but that didn´t happen. Bulbasaur and Squirtle looked at each other and nodded, both coming to terms with the fact that they needed to evolve to become stronger and be a help to Ash further along the road. 

The other Pokémon gathered gave approving nods, each one feeling it was high time that the two evolved. Pidgeot being the one who had known them for the longest amount of time, screeched her approval loudly. The two were two of Ash´s most trustworthy partners but had fallen behind in power due to their reluctance to evolving. The proud avian had waited patiently for the two to make up their minds and was glad to finally see the commitment from them. 

As this was their last day of training together before the switch was to happen on the early morning, Ash decided that it would be best to do it now and allow the twosome downtime to get used to their new bodies. "How about we start with Squirtle? So anyone remember what it felt like to evolve?" Ash clarified and asked openly, hoping that the explanations of how it felt would trigger something in Squirtle to start the evolution.

The wind rustled softly in the grass around them, along with a few groans from the oldest oaken tree as the wind took hold of its branches. Muk and Haunter both shrugged, apparently, they had been evolved for so long that it had slipped their minds. Pidgeot, however, stepped forward and thrilled, soft clucks and small quiet shrieks. Squirtle nodded calmly, but it seemed to do little for him. "Kokie-kokie," Kingler cut in, crabbing nearer to Squirtle and going into his own explanation by the looks of things.

"I´ll call Professor Oak, for now, get his opinion. Just try on your own for now, alright?" Ash asked the process was mildly irritating to him who was used to impulsive action and not careful planning. Professor Oak answered the phone almost immediately, "Good evening Ash, I was wondering when you would contact me. I hear from Delia that you are doing fine up there?" "I am Professor, and I am sorry I haven´t called you before now. I think I need your advice."

The aging man smiled gently, "Certainly, Ash. What do you need?" Ash swallowed slightly, a tad nervous about asking him, "Bulbasaur and Squirtle are both trying to evolve, but we don´t know how. Does any of your research go into Pokémon who has refused to evolve?" Professor Oak laughed jovially, "You needn´t be scared about asking me for my research Ash, I´m happy to share it with you." The professor laughed, "As a matter of fact yes, there is a precedent to follow. Several to be honest, and they all point to one thing."

Ash breathed unsteadily, nervous about hearing what his two friends had to do now. "Meditation. They simply have to look within themselves and find the energy that they once rejected, it lies dormant in there somewhere." Ash blinked, "All they have to do is meditate?" The old man nodded, a smile on his face. "Alright, I´ll tell them," Ash told him, before hanging up the phone. Walking back to his gathered group of Pokémon he saw the mood was still light and easy, a few of the Pokémon laughing in jest. He sat down in front of the gathered team, smiling brightly. "According to the Professor, if you meditate and find the evolution energy within yourself that should be enough." 

Immediately upon hearing that Squirtle got up and walked over to the small pond, swimming to the small stone slab situated in the middle of it. There Squirtle sat down in a meditative position, his eyes closed and his senses barred from the outside. Ash smiled at Squirtle´s dedication to his newest task, knowing it was better for them to become their second stage and continue their growth from there. It would come a day when they once again hit a wall, at which point their only option was becoming Blastoise and Venasaur.

Bulbasaur rose up from the ground and trudged slowly over to a large fallen tree, which had an opening large enough for an Ivysaur. There he sat down and released his Vine Whip to obscure him from the outside, creating a dome of sorts of tangled vines. "Let´s leave the two of them to it, and get some rest," Ash decided, grabbing his sleeping bag and laying down under a makeshift roof created by a tarp. The cold chill of the night air slowly crept in, a soft fog obscuring the clearing.

As Ash woke the next morning the tarp was covered by morning dew, but the rest of the clearing was covered in cracks and ravines, frozen over by a thick sheet of ice. Sitting in the middle was an exhausted Wartortle leaning against an Ivysaur, the two grinning madly towards their trainer. Ash rose an eyebrow as he walked over, the ice lowering the temperature of the entire clearing. "I see you managed, this a result of testing your new power?" Both Pokémon nodded and rose to their feet, laughing the entire time.

"I´m glad I didn´t take it up with you earlier, I would have had to change the training ground before I was planning to," Ash smirked, appraising the destruction his two friends had wrought upon the clearing. "Everyone join me!" he spoke aloud, allowing the remaining team to join them in the fresh morning air. Even though most appeared to be sleepy they all noticed the new evolutions standing before them, several giving approving sounds or gestures. "Alright, this is the last training period before we make the switch later in the morning. Everybody knows what they need?" 

Most of the Pokémon nodded and set off to start their own training, but Primeape hung back a little. During the two weeks of training Ash and Primeape had made a habit of having a light spar every three days in the morning hours, and even though it was only two since last time Primeape wanted one last spar before the switch. Ash shook his head amusedly, "Alright, Primeape, we can spar, but we can´t do a long one. I need to check on the others as well." Primeape nodded and reached his fist forward for Ash to bump, their sign that both were ready to start. During the time he had already been here Ash had built more muscle than before, though he still had more of a swimmers body than anything. He pulled his torn and worn jacket off, showing his rather impressive physique before bumping fists with Primeape. 

As they had done this more than once, often a couple of times a day in the start, Ash had long since gotten used to Primeape´s battle style. A mix of punches and kicks, often feinting one to attack with the other. As this was light sparring, fast-paced but with soft touches, Ash could block and counterattack the mighty Fighting-types attacks. It took nearly thirty minutes before Ash called the spar off, almost forgetting the time because of the exhilaration he always felt while sparring. -Phew, that gets the blood running, Ash thought to himself. –Oh, I should call mum and dad later, it been a couple of days since I called them. 

Walking calmly across the clearing, the icy sheet still visible in places, he inspected his Pokémon´s growth. In some cases, it was massive, while in others the Pokémon had little room for growth from before. The most impressive was without a doubt Ivysaur and Wartortle, the two of them currently locked in a spar with each other. Upon their evolution, both of them had found that their strength was so great that they could both utilize the strongest attacks of their types, Hydro Cannon and Frenzy Plant. Moves they reserved for sparring with each other or Pikachu, not wanting to harm any of the other Pokémon. 

-What I really find impressive with my Pokémon is their willpower, they rival my own stubbornness, Ash thought giddily. He had never managed to find anything that his Pokémon wouldn´t succeed at with effort, they weren´t natural at everything of course but they managed to improve no matter what obstacles came in their way. During the two weeks alone, for example, Primeape had learned Thunderbolt from Pikachu as an ace in the hole against Flying-types. 

Most of the others had also covered for their weaknesses by learning moves or techniques to counter them, which impressed Ash immensely since that wasn´t something he had told them to. They had found techniques or moves to counter their weakness without him telling them to, even though he had helped them figure out exactly what their most glaring weakness was. –Only two more rotations and we´re home for a month to train and study in collective before Sinnoh, Ash thought to himself eagerly. That was one of the few things that had changed since planning the training on Mt. Silver, because of the increase to his carry limit he could train more Pokémon at once on Mt. Silver and thus cut down his time there by a month.

-Alright, my next Pokémon´s will be…Hmm, this is difficult. Cyndaquil, Totodile, Bayleef, Donphan, Noctowl, Snorlax, Tauros, and Heracross maybe? Yeah, I think that´s best, the others I have been a lot with lately, Ash decided. He did, however, have to wait for a few more hours before doing the switch since he needed to wait until the Professor woke up. A large explosion rocked from the distance proving that those few hours wouldn´t be as peaceful as Ash had hoped, all the Pokémon facing the site.

"All right guys, return. Primeape run with me," Ash commanded, his face instantly serious. His gear already packed he tossed it onto his back and ran towards the site of the explosion, leaving the frozen training ground behind them. –No smell of smoke, so a fire is unlikely, Ash thought to himself as the wind blew into his face. The only smell upon coming with it being flowers, grass, and berries. Rushing out into the open canyon Ash came face to face with a giant Steelix and one that looked none too pleased at that. "Aggron use Iron Tail!" a voice was heard before a giant Pokémon somehow leaped into the air and struck Steelix´s head into the ground. 

"Pokéball go!" the same voice stated confidently, and the second later the Steelix disappeared in a familiar red light. The rocking Pokéball took all of Ash´s attention, so he didn´t recognize the trainer. As the Pokéball let out a satisfying click to signify the successful capture, the other trainer approached him casually. "Yo!" The other trainer was casually dressed in a black tank top and cargo pants with combat boots to the middle of his shins. The young man looked a bit older than Ash and had flaming orange hair in a spiky hairdo. 

"Name´s Duncan, sorry if my battle woke ya up," the young man stated pointing his own thumb into his chest, his accent unfamiliar to Ash´s ears. "That´s alright, I was training anyways," Ash answered easily, a calm smile on his face. Standing to his side Primeape was looking over the Aggron, trying to see if it was worth a fight. "Yeah, I guess that´s why most of us are up here. New Elite Trainer?" he asked, probably judging on Ash´s age. Ash laughed slightly and shook his head, "No nearly two years actually." Duncan´s eyes widened, letting out a low whistle he spoke again, "Damn! You must really have impressed the right people."

"I might have, but my Pokémon did all the work," Ash spoke his body tense. Somehow this young man made him slightly nervous, not in a bad way though. More like he really wanted to battle him, and his body tensed in preparation for that. "Yeah, I know what ya mean. My buddy here is my best battler, first Pokémon too actually, but that seems to be the norm. What about you, who´s your first?" Duncan asked curiously. Ash flicked a thumb upward, pointing it to Pikachu on his shoulder who sat with a gentle expression smiling toward the newcomer.

"Pikachu, eh? It doesn´t wanna evolve?" Duncan asked, his entire demeanor was friendly and he seemed a genuinely nice guy. "He likes being the way he is," Ash answered allowing Pikachu to run down to his hand, where he settled down again sniffing the scent coming from Duncan. Ash gazed around the canyon they found themselves in, large gashes and cracks in its sides. Deciding the canyon was strong enough to allow the two a battle he turned back to Duncan, who apparently had the same idea. "Four on four?" Duncan asked pleasantly, a smile tugging at his lips. "Sounds good," Ash agreed before the two created some distance between them. 

"Alright, first up is Dodrio!" Duncan shouted, summoning the three-headed bird to the field, its talons digging deep trenches in the ground. "Wartortle I choose you!" Ash countered, his newly evolved Water-type standing before him shortly after. "Pri-pri-prime," Primeape uttered quietly beside Ash, catching his attention. Smiling he answered, "Alright Primeape, I´ll use you too in this battle." Seeing Primeape grin assured Ash he had taken the right decision, the smile on his face widening.

"Dodrio use Drill Peck!" As the large Flying-type darted towards Wartortle, Ash said nothing. Duncan rose an eyebrow at that but thought nothing of it. Until Wartortle suddenly dodged to the side that was, allowing Dodrio to run straight past and crash into a boulder. "Now use Ice Beam!" Spinning around while the light blue icy energy charged in his mouth, Wartortle faced Dodrio before firing the immensely powerful attack. "Shite! Dodge that, Dodrio!" Duncan roared, intent on not underestimating the obviously powerful opponent. Dodrio, however, couldn´t heed his words, as one of the three beaks had gotten stuck in the rock during its crash, causing the Ice Beam to find its mark perfectly. The powerful hit froze the legs solid to the ground and inflicting massive damage to Dodrio, leaving it completely open to a follow-up attack. "Let´s finish this in the next blow, while we have the chance Wartortle! Hydro Cannon!" Ash commanded.

-Can´t allow one of those attacks to land, Ash thought as he had seen the power behind Dodrio´s attack. "Dodrio!" Duncan yelled, but there was nothing that could be done. Hydro Cannon hit its mark and exploded in a massive torrent of water, creating a shower of needle-like rain over the two trainers. When the mist had dispersed both trainers saw that Dodrio couldn´t battle any longer, its body lying unconscious among the rubble of the rock it had been stuck in. "That Wartortle´s power is incredible!" Duncan exclaimed as he returned his downed Dodrio. 

"Yeah, well he is one of my first Pokémon," Ash explained, before returning Wartortle. "Primeape you´re up." Primeape shouted to the heavens in joy, entering the arena bouncing up and down almost like a boxer. "A Primeape huh? Well, seems like a job for Nidorino!" The quadrupedal purple Pokémon entered the battle with a loud barking noise, lowering its horn to show its readiness. Just as the two were about to start the battle though, Duncan´s phone rang. "Yeah what´s up?" he asked, tossing the phone up to his ear. "Really? Right now? Yeah, I understand, I´ll be there in 15." 

Ash rose his eyebrow at the interaction, something Duncan noticed. "My boss. I work as a kind of bodyguard for a construction company, actually, I caught the Steelix as a way to help them. One of their cranes was destroyed not long ago, and I said I´d find one over here." Ash nodded, understanding that Duncan had probably taken the job as a way to earn a little more money. "Unfortunately they want to get started and finish their project, which means I´ll have to cut this battle short." Ash waved it off, "It´s no big deal, Primeape can battle Sceptile once he gets back to the corral." Primeape had seemed disappointed by the battle ending before it had begun but perked up at realizing Ash wouldn´t be summoning Sceptile in the next rotation. He had heard about Sceptile´s strength and was eager to check for himself if the rumors were true. "You own a Sceptile? That must mean you´ve been through Hoenn before?" Duncan asked curiously. Ash nodded, "Yeah I have. Why do you ask?" 

Duncan laughed, "I live in Verdanturf Town if you´re ever in the neighborhood stop by." With that he returned Nidorino and waved goodbye to Ash, calling upon a large black Flying-type Ash had never seen before. "Maybe I will. See you around Duncan!" Ash called after the trainer. Investigating food and water availability in the canyon and the training options Ash felt confident he had found his newest training ground, so he calmly set up camp there. Letting the rest of his crew out, Ash sat down to look through the news as the morning sun started shining brightly in the distance. He almost laughed upon seeing the headline of yesterday's news, 'Pyramid King Brandon refuses to disclose information about his recent archeological investigation'. –Don´t they ever learn? They tried badgering dad, Brandon, and even Lance for days after it happened and they never got anywhere. Why would that change? 

The group sat there in silence enjoying the morning hours together, waiting for hours to pass by. And slowly, slowly the sun rose higher on the sky and the temperature of the world gradually got warmer. The smells in the air weren´t all pleasant, but they were all natural and not one of them suggested anything out of place. A welcome change of pace in Ash´s opinion, as the time passed 10. –I think it´s time to call the Professor, Ash thought to himself. Dialing the number Ash sat down and waited for Professor Oak to pick up. As he waited he felt the slight wind brushing against his skin, a slight rustling noise in the grass as wild Pokémon passed by. "Hello? Hello, Ash?" Professor Oak´s voice cuts in as Ash´s mind came back to the moment. "Sorry Professor, I was just…" "Enjoying the morning it looked like," Professor Oak continued as Ash fell short on his explanation. 

Ash smiled, glad that the Professor understood. "Yeah, how are things back on the ranch?" Ash asked, curious as to have his other Pokémon had fared these two weeks. "Everything´s been good, your Hoenn Pokémon took a couple of days off and got into training with the rest. Only one of your Tauros has any interest in battling, so only one of them train regularly. But that isn´t all you called for is it?" Ash smiled, "No, the two weeks are up. I´m switching the teams to train up here." The Professor nodded, "Alright, who do you want up there?" Ash grinned, "I want Tauros, Snorlax, Cyndaquil, Totodile, Bayleef, Noctowl, Heracross, and Donphan. The rest of my older crew, I feel they need some attention."

"Well send over the guys from your end first, and I´ll fetch the new group," the Professor answered and walked out of the camera´s view. "All right guys when you return to the ranch I want you to help the others to train, alright? Primeape, the best sparring partner for you would be Sceptile since Heracross is coming here." The Fighting-type nodded eagerly, bumping fists with Ash before withdrawing into his Pokéball. "Pidgeot would you mind helping Swellow with her aerial combat? I can´t think of a better teacher than one who led a flock," Ash continued gazing upon his proud bird. "Pidgeot!" she called back with a loud caw and outstretched wings, and he knew he could count on her.

"Alright guys time to return," Ash called to all of them, withdrawing them into their Pokéballs. Finding the portable transporter on his X-Transceiver he slowly and methodically sent his Pokémon back to Professor Oak, eagerly awaiting his new batch. It took nearly ten minutes before Professor Oak returned, carrying the eight Pokéballs that Ash was waiting for. About two minutes later Ash was surrounded by his newest batch of trainees. "Thank you, Professor. Oh, and have you gotten the result of that medical check yet?" Ash asked, a little worried about the answer. Professor Oak laughed, "I have. It was simply stress coupled with a concussion, I hit my head in my haste that morning and thought nothing of it. Nothing to worry about."

Ash smiled brightly, glad that the Professor wasn´t ill. "Alright, I will speak to you later Professor, I have to call my parents too." His father had returned to Pallet the day after their little temple run, Lance giving him a ride, and had retired from the Ranger Union to spend time with his wife. Incidentally, he was the one who picked up the phone, "Hello, you´ve reached the Ketchum residence. How can I… Good morning Ash, you haven´t called for a while!" The polite but borderline unemotional reply quickly changed into a heartfelt reply, as Michael recognized his son on the other end. "Delia! Ash is on the phone!" Not moments later his mother entered the room, to sit next to Michael. "Good morning, honey," Delia greeted kindly. 

"Morning mum, sorry I haven´t called before now. I´ve just lost myself in the training," Ash apologized sincerely. Delia waved it off, "That´s alright dear, I know how you can get when you train. And I trust you and your Pokémon more than I do your father right now." The last sentence was uttered with a pointed look at Michael from the corner of her eyes, causing the retired Ranger to sweat bullets. A smile appeared on his face as he paid attention to his parents' interaction, something he hadn´t been able to do for several years.

"So how´s it going up there?" Michael asked, trying to get the attention over to his son again instead of himself. "It´s going well, I just switched out the team so I have the last of my Kanto and Johto Pokémon up here with me now," Ash answered gleefully. "That´s wonderful Ash, they definitely missed you," Delia exclaimed with a smile. "Yeah, I missed them too. That´s one of the reasons I am using everyone for my next journey. It wouldn´t be fair to only use my newest and let my others sit waiting back home," Ash agreed wholeheartedly, his smile spreading to both his parents. 

Their conversation lasted nearly an hour, Pikachu having abandoned Ash´s shoulder and let the others out about five minutes in. When Ash finally hung up the phone he found his Pokémon already doing their best in training exercises put up by Pikachu, who had joined in fully committed. "Great job getting everyone started Pikachu!" Ash called out, getting everyone´s attention. "Now, here is how we´re going to continue…" 

Day in and day out Ash and his crew trained from the crack of dawn till a little past dusk, focusing everything in their beings to get stronger together. The results became obvious pretty quickly, as the trainer and his Pokémon attracted the attention of many of the wild Pokémon, who started showing up to train with them. Having an almost infinite source of sparring partners allowed Ash and his Pokémon to train to their very limits, often quite a bit further than what most would think.

Ash too joined in sparring often, and he walked away from it with a few scars scattered here and there. The most prominent was the slight nick he had on his right cheek, the part longest back right under the ear, which he had received by accident from an overzealous Sneasel. Said Sneasel had been horrified at causing actual harm to its newest friend and had been extremely apologetic the entire time afterward until Ash managed to convince it that he wasn´t angry at all. He did have a scar on his left thigh after a Donphan accidentally punctured it with its tusk, after having been redirected by Bayleef. That injury had actually forced Ash down to the Preserve Center to get it checked, but he had been back soon afterward. The last scars he had been given by an Ursaring, whose territory they had intruded upon without knowing. A row of three thin scars on his right lower abdomen, and a single larger swipe against his right biceps. 

All in all, though he had gotten off light for the amount of time he had spent upon Mt. Silver so far, most leaving after a couple of days to avoid large-scale damage. In two days Ash was switching up his teams again, so, for now, he spent more time observing his Pokémon train than training along with them. "Totodile use Hydro Pump and Cyndaquil use Flamethrower!" Ash commanded, the two Pokémon reacting instantly by firing their attacks against their opponents. The wild Sneasel and Onix dodging their attacks swiftly, though the Onix didn´t manage to completely dodge Totodile´s Hydro Pump.

Sneasel shot forward trying to slash Totodile with a Shadow Claw. "Totodile dodge that, Cyndaquil use Flame Wheel to counter Sneasel!" Ash commanded, observing the entire match sitting a few meters to the side in the shade of a large oak. Laying by his side was Tauros, who he absentmindedly scratched on the neck while he commanded Totodile and Cyndaquil.

Dancing to the side with a few pirouettes, Ash having refined Totodile´s dancing as a way to dodge easily, Totodile completely evaded Sneasel, who overreached and became unbalanced. As a result, Sneasel was sent flying when Cyndaquil crashed into its side, hitting a tree and landing knocked out cold. "Totodile use Aqua Jet on Onix now! Cyndaquil give him a boost with Flamethrower!" This was one of the few combination moves that Ash could actually get to work properly for his Pokémon, and even then it was only for Cyndaquil and Totodile. Totodile reached Onix in record time smashing into the underside of its head, sending Onix rearing backward.

"Alright, we´re done!" Ash called out, his own two Pokémon bowing to their opponents. The two wild Pokémon seemed disheartened but bowed to their opponents as well. –It´s amazing how the wild Pokémon up here has welcomed us after just a short while. Well, except that Ursaring but they aren´t the friendliest anyway, Ash thought to himself. As if summoned by Ash´s thoughts the Ursaring burst through the trees and ran towards the two first-stage Pokémon. Tauros was instantly on his feet and ready to charge in, but Ash signaled him to stop. "Let´s give Totodile and Cyndaquil a chance to resolve this themselves," he stated quietly. 

However, it quickly became apparent that the Ursaring was simply too strong, especially considering Totodile and Cyndaquil had already been battling before he showed up. Ursaring hit Totodile with a Slash attack and stopped Cyndaquil´s Flame Wheel with the other paw. Sending Cyndaquil down with a powerful Hammer Arm, the Ursaring roared its challenge to the skies. Even injured and tired, both the first-stage Pokémon would allow none to best them and with a shriek each, they both started glowing with the light of evolution simultaneously. 

"Croconaw!" the larger blue crocodile Pokémon roared, baring its long intimidating fangs to the Ursaring. "Quilava!" the other shrieked the flames flaring intensely out of the blue top half of its body. –Wow, Totodile and Cyndaquil both evolved! Ash thought filled with anticipation. "Alright let's give it a go with more powerful attacks! Quilava use Eruption and Croconaw use Superpower!" The powerful Fire-type attack shot past Croconaw and slammed into Ursaring, who roared in pain and took two steps backward completely off balance. Croconaw glowed orange and slammed into Ursaring´s stomach with a powerful kick. Not releasing Ursaring to fly off, Croconaw grabbed it and slammed a fist into its stomach as part of the Superpower attack. The super effective attack sent Ursaring crashing to the ground, not out cold but not in any shape to battle further either.

When Croconaw was about to advance on the downed Ursaring, Ash stepped in. "Croconaw! We don´t attack a defeated opponent!" he roared sharply, forcing Croconaw´s focus back unto him. Croconaw gritted his teeth but obliged his trainer. "You should probably leave Ursaring, Croconaw might attack you again if you stay here." The giant brown Pokémon gingerly got up and limped away its pride shattered. "Alright guys, take the day off for now," Ash stated calmly, but on the inside he was worried. –What was that? What is going on with Croconaw?

Walking through the slightly wet grass Ash followed his newly evolved Croconaw to a small pond, where he found Croconaw try to perform his old dance and fail. –Is it perhaps that he thinks he can´t dance any longer, Ash thought to himself. "Hey Croconaw," Ash greeted him quietly, but still loud enough for Croconaw to hear. His head snapped towards his trainer before he let out a single sigh, walking over to him with his head hung low. A gentle breeze drifted over the small clearing, creating rippling in the still water of the pond and a slight rustling in the leaves. "What´s on your mind? You seemed a little aggressive back there," Ash asked trying to understand what was bugging his Croconaw. Through a series of movements and slight grunts, Croconaw managed to convey to Ash what troubled him. "You´re worried about your dancing?" A tired and sad nod answered him. "You don´t need to worry about that!" Ash exclaimed with a smile. "You simply have to find a new style that fits your new body, that´s all."

Croconaw smiled at that, and Ash left a reinvigorated Pokémon by the pond. –Two more days before the last outing, Ash thought to himself. –Hm, maybe I should call Liza and ask her to send Charizard now? Quilava might get better with another Fire-type to train with. Yes, I think that´s a good idea, he decided for himself and started dialing the number. "Hi, Liza I think I want Charizard to fly up here today. Tell him He might get a head start on training," Ash calmly stated as Liza picked up the phone. A short while later it was confirmed that Charizard was on his way. –I can´t wait, Ash thought giddily gazing across the meadow upon his training Pokémon. The sun warming the area, and another breeze drifting across the landscape tussling his hair slightly.

 **A/N:**

 **I will end the chapter there, and probably the entirety of the Mt. Silver arc to be honest. I´m not too fond of writing only training, I need there to happen something. As shown by The Ghost Cave, and I think somewhat by the appearance of Duncan (who is an OC if you didn´t realize). Don´t know if he´ll appear again, but he might. As for ending the Mt. Silver arc I feel I´ve shown most of what I wanted, the only evolution I had planned that is left is Corpish, and I can show that in a flashback or something.**

 **As always I would appreciate any constructive criticism or any ideas you´d like to see. I can´t guarantee they will happen, but if I like them they might.  
**

**Till next time!**


	5. Traveling to Sinnoh

**A/N:**

 **As I have stated I started this before chapter 4 went up. I will still answer questions and/or reviews that need replying to at the end of the chapters provided I get them.**

 **Still, I have to apologize as it has taken me some time to actually finish this chapter. We have had incredibly sunny weather lately and I really enjoy playing volleyball with my friends. So I have spent much of my time outside, getting exercise and having fun. In addition, I have had a slight writer's block for a little while though that thankfully finished.  
**

**One thing I forgot to mention the last chapter is the Pokémon´s move set. Every move each Pokémon in my story learns will indeed be possible for the Pokémon to have in the games, however, I will allow the Pokémon to learn the move regardless of if the move is a Move Tutor move, TM move or Egg Move. If it can get it in** _ **whatever**_ **way in the game they can learn it in this fanfiction.**

 **As always I do not do this for profit, nor do I in any way, shape, or form own Pokémon as a franchise.**

 **Onward to the chapter!**

Traveling to Sinnoh! 

Ash had returned to Pallet nearly a month and a half ago today, after the last two weeks with his Hoenn Pokémon plus Charizard. Those two weeks had passed incredibly fast, both because it had been extremely fun but also because there had actually been rather little that happened. Each Pokémon came out with some new moves and stronger in body, mind, and spirit, but as all of them, excluding Corpish and Aipom, was already fully evolved nothing much occurred during the training. In fact, the most significant situation that happened with his Hoenn Pokémon happened as they returned to Pallet Town, or rather two days after their return. 

Corpish and Kingler had struck up a steady friendship, but after their training camps, Kingler had really shot past Corpish in strength, which meant that roughhousing and other competitions that they both found fun became impossible for Corpish to win. Neither of them were satisfied with that and so Kingler helped Corpish train himself even further than they had at Mt. Silver, resulting in Corpish evolving to Crawdaunt two days after their return. Apparently, Corpish hadn´t been far off from evolving at Mt. Silver at all, something that brought a smile to Ash´s face. 

The Sinnoh League was set to start off in about a week, the Sinnoh newbie trainers getting their Pokémon in two days. Ash´s entire body trembled as he tried to reign in his excitement at starting his journey anew. –I can´t wait to finally travel to Sinnoh and see all the different kind of Pokémon that exists there, Ash thought to himself. –Oh, I need to pick out a couple of Pokémon to start off with! Mhm, well Sceptile, Charizard, Kingler, and Crawdaunt can´t go first. Sceptile and Charizard are so powerful that it wouldn´t be any fun, and Kingler and Crawdaunt would prefer to stay here to train a little longer. Ivysaur and Wartortle want to spend some more time together, and neither of them are too excited to travel so soon after evolving. Ah I know, I´ll start off with Croconaw, Bayleef, Quilava, and Pidgeot. Well in addition to Pikachu of course.

Satisfied with his choices Ash closed his eyes and went to sleep, the last night of sleep he would have in his own bed for quite a while. That night Ash dreamt of standing on the stage of the Sinnoh League conference, holding the trophy high above his head. He woke up groggily the next morning to the sensation of something jumping on his chest, and upon opening his eyes he recognized the perpetrator to be his very own Pikachu. "Ugh, what gives Pikachu?" he asked dramatically holding his chest, making Pikachu laugh. "Ash!? Has Pikachu woken you yet?" Delia asked from the bottom of the stairs, explaining why Pikachu had been jumping on his chest.

"Yes, mum. I´ll be down in a minute, ok?" Ash answered, getting up and rapidly getting dressed. As he splashed water into his face, Ash happened to look into the mirror and saw that he had the beginnings of a scruff on his chin. –I need to get my hands on a razor. Can´t go around with this thing on my chin, he decided. Walking calmly into the dining room a few minutes later, Ash found both his parents, Tracey and Professor Oak waiting for him. "Good morning," he greeted with a happy smile, sitting down and slowly piled food onto his plate. "Good morning, young man," Delia answered with a slight chuckle, which Ash remarkably caught. "What´s going on?" he asked suspicious about the others smiles.

Michael blinked, before bursting out laughing. "Well, he´s my son alright! More caught up in Pokémon than anything else." "What do you mean, dad?" Ash asked curiously, still not understanding what was going on. "It´s your birthday, Ash. You are 16 today," Delia answered him with a smile. Blinking rapidly, Ash couldn´t stop his mouth from falling open. "It´s my birthday!?" he suddenly called out, caught completely unaware. "Indeed it is, and we decided that we wanted to celebrate a little since you´re home," Michael answered him, the mirth easily recognizable in his tone. Ash just sat there, completely dumbfounded.

"But since you are always in a hurry to travel and meet new friends, we´re giving you your presents before you rush out of the house," Delia cut in, though she too seemed amused at the turn of events. Ash nodded stunned, he had somehow completely forgotten his own birthday. Michael reached down under the table and pulled out a gift-wrapped package. "This is the first one of mine," he started. Upon seeing Ash´s confused face he explained shortly, "Well I´m giving you three since I have a little catching up to do." He had a hand rubbing the back of his head, a goofy grin on his face. Ash laughed but shook his head slightly. "You know you don´t need to right?" 

"Oh, but I want to. Totally different," Michael assured his son, who really had no comeback to that. Tearing the paper off the gift, Ash gazed upon his new travel set of hygiene products. Included were deodorant, hair gel, and a razor to take his scruff with. "Thank you, dad. It´s funny, I was literally thinking I needed a razor when I saw my scruff in the mirror before I came down," Ash laughed slightly. "And I knew you needed one so that one was easy to get," Michael countered good-naturedly. Delia was the next one to pull a gift out, "Here sweetheart, this is for you." "Thank you, mum," Ash said sincerely, before ripping the wrapping away to reveal an all-new wardrobe for his travels. 

A pair of slightly long, baggy, black pants coupled with a black tank top with red trimmings. In addition, he got a new pair of black sneakers with dark red details and a dark red backpack with black seams and details. "I love them mum, thank you," Ash stated sincerely, hugging Delia tightly. "Then it´s my next one!" Michael laughed happily, handing Ash another package. This time a slightly elongated one, wrapped in bandages instead of gift wrapping. As he ripped through it Ash came to realize that it was a sort of collapsible saddle. "I know you like to ride your flying types at least, so your mother and I decided that you should at least be more secure doing that. Therefore, a saddle, it´s adjustable by the way and fits both flying and earthbound Pokémon," Michael explained, a thoroughly pleased grin on his face as he looked upon his son´s thankful expression. 

"Thank you, dad, mum," Ash thanked the two profusely, gazing in admiration on the saddle. "These are mine," Tracey stated, handing Ash a stack of sketches. Each and every one was of Ash´s Pokémon while they were on the ranch, and he was traveling. "Thank you, Tracey. I love them," Ash stated, running upstairs to fetch the album he kept Tracey´s sketches in. "Before Professor Oak gives you his gift, I want to give you my third and last gift to you," Michael stated, as Ash came into the room again. The gift Michael held out to Ash this time seemed to be a box of some kind, though Ash couldn´t be sure through the wrapping. Deciding he wanted to see it, Ash ripped the wrapping off in record time, to find that the gift was indeed a box. Inside the box, however, was a black leather jacket, seemingly styled after a Ranger´s jacket, and silver chain with a socket for a Pokéball. "I know Pikachu doesn´t like to go into his Pokéball, but I always found that I liked having my starter´s Pokéball close to my heart. Pikachu´s Pokéball goes into the socket here, like this," Michael explained, taking Pikachu´s Pokéball. "That´s cool, but how do you know you like to have your starters Pokéball in a chain? I thought you were a Ranger?" Ash asked confused as to what his father meant. Michael and the others laughed openly, "Nearly every Pokémon Ranger started as a Pokémon trainer at one point or another, as did I. All my old Pokémon are being transported from the Union by the end of this month actually," Michael stated easily with a pleased sigh on his lips. "Oh," was all the reply Ash managed to muster.

"And lastly it´s my gift," Professor Oak stated, handing Ash a small box. Inside was two rings, and a set of potions and medicines, including a filled berry pouch. "These are to make your journey easier," he smiled. "I understand the medicines, but why the rings?" Ash asked curious, inspecting the rings. One seemed to be made of silver and was engraved with a Pokéball design, while the other was a stainless steel ring with a thunderbolt design. "The thunderbolt is just for show but symbolizes your start from my lab with Pikachu. The other one is the ring I gift to every Elite Trainer that comes out of my sponsor program," Professor Oak explained. 

Ash smile and slipped both rings onto his right ring and middle fingers, "Thank you, Professor." The five of them sat there talking and eating breakfast until noon when Ash decided that he needed to get going. "I need to pick up Bayleef, Quilava, Croconaw, and Pidgeot from the ranch and then I´m headed for Vermilion," was Ash´s parting words as he dashed out of the house and all but sprinted toward the ranch. As he skidded to a halt in the clearing his Pokémon had claimed as their training ground he saw each and every single Pokémon he owned training. Even Charizard had returned for the moment, though he would leave for the Charicific Valley in the evening. "Guys!" he shouted, getting their attention. Which also resulted in him being bombarded by Pokémon running him down, something his new muscle mass certainly helped endure.

"Alright, I´m heading for Vermilion to take the ferry to Sinnoh now. I just came to pick up a few more of you, so Bayleef, Quilava, Croconaw and Pidgeot you´re coming with me. And…" there Ash was cut off by Aipom climbing his leg and settling on his shoulder, refusing to let go. "Ok, I guess Aipom is coming as well," Ash stated, a resigned expression on his face. "We´re flying to Vermilion, Pidgeot, but first I need to settle this onto you." Showing the saddle Ash stepped closer to Pidgeot and with nimble fingers fastened the saddle to her back. "I will be calling upon all of you throughout the journey, even Charizard and Sceptile." The two powerhouses smirked seriously, but the smirks were dropped at Ash´s next comment. "But you two will only be called upon in the conference, and maybe, _maybe_ , in the last gym match. Perhaps there will be other times I decide that I might need you, but we don´t know yet."

Deciding that all that needed saying had been said, Ash climbed into the saddle and returned Aipom, Quilava, Croconaw, and Bayleef. "Hang on tight Pikachu. See you around guys! Keep up your training, alright!?" he shouted down as Pidgeot took off with a powerful beat of her wings. A resounding cacophony of agreeing roars rose after him as Pidgeot sped off toward Vermilion, bringing a smile to his face. The wind high up was ice cold, crashing into him like a cannon blast and violently tugging at him. The sun shone brightly, but Ash could say it warmed him any.

Arriving in Vermilion had much the same response as last time, people marveling at the majestic being known as Pidgeot. However, unlike last time people also knew who Ash was this time. Though Ash knew that was only the case in Kanto, which he was infinitely glad for. –Dealing with being famous in Sinnoh would be such a bother, Ash thought to himself. Walking calmly towards the pier where the ferry had docked he flashed the ticket, the sailor nearly bowing to him as he walked past.

Finding his cabin Ash laid down and rested his eyes for a few, which turned out to be nearly two hours when he woke up again. Walking calmly through the corridors of the ship Ash bumped into many a foreign trainer, more than a few of which had arrogant looks on their faces and sneered at him. Out on the outdoor deck, Ash bumped into someone he hadn´t thought he´d meet again. James, Jessie, and Meowth looked at him in shock, the expression mirrored on Ash´s own face. "Well I guess we do meet again," Ash stated jovially, the several months without interruption by Team Rocket mellowing his feelings toward the trio. "Yeah, guess we do," Meowth answered, a slight smirk on his face. "Ya going to Sinnoh, kid?" he asked curiously. "Yep, decided to try my hand at the league there. What are you thinking of doing in Sinnoh?" Ash asked, his friendly demeanor not lessening in the slightest even though these three used to be a pain in his side.

"Jessie´s continuing as a coordinator, I´m simply traveling. Meowth will be working as a Pokémon translator while traveling with us," James explained with a smile on his face, though he did seem slightly nervous. "That sounds like a perfect match for you," Ash commented, gazing over the horizon. The waves rolled calmly over the surface of the ocean, a slight wind escorting the smell of seawater to Ash´s nose and the cries of a few Wingull and Pelipper sounded over the otherwise quiet ocean. "Yeah, we´ve been a little busy these last few months in preparation though," Jessie cut in, her tone easier and gentler than normal. Perhaps she was stern and easy to anger due to the stress of Team Rocket? "How so?" Ash asked curiously as to how they prepared, knowing it was unlikely to be anything like his own preparation. 

James smirked lightly, "Well we traveled throughout the regions we tailed you twerps and found our old Pokémon. The only one that didn´t want to return was Victreebell, but I´m not surprised at that." Ash rose an eyebrow, not really believing the overly affectionate Victreebell wouldn´t return if given the choice. "Well, he had started a family," James shrugged, really having come to terms with Victreebell´s refusal to return. "Wait does that mean Weezing and Arbok are back?" Ash asked suddenly, remembering that he hadn´t seen the two in a long time. "Yep, kiddo. The old team´s back," Meowth answered with a smirk, but he was honestly very happy to have them back. Ash smiled, "I´m happy for you. You looked really sad without Arbok and Weezing." The words were sincere, though understated, Team Rocket had seemed miserable without the two.

"Well I actually fetched another old friend of mine," James stated quietly and released a Pokémon from its Pokéball. "Growlithe!" the orange and black striped Pokémon yipped as it was released. "Oh, you actually went back for Growlie?" Ash asked with a risen eyebrow, "How did that go over with your parents?" "Oh, the usual. Jessebelle tried forcing me to marry, my parents shouting at me and Hopkins crying," James answered with a shrug of his shoulders, but then a smirk appeared on his face. "This time though I found a way out of the marriage contract," apparently James´s smirk was contagious because the other two, and oddly enough Growlie, started smirking too. "I simply informed them that I had married already." At that both Jessie and James showed off rings on their left ring fingers, wedding bands to be precise.

Ash´s eyes widened, and his mouth nearly fell open. "Well congratulations are in order I guess," he managed to sputter out after a little while. "Thank you," Jessie smiled back at him. "How long have the two of you been together?" Ash asked curious, but not overly surprised. "You don´t seem to be surprised, kid?" James pointed out, "I always thought you were oblivious to this kind of thing?" "Oblivious to what? Romance? Dude, when you met me I was ten. I didn´t notice girls back then. I didn´t start noticing girls till late in my Johto journey, and Misty didn´t interest me. May was three years my junior, something I couldn´t exactly ignore," Ash pointed out sternly, proving to the pair that he had matured greatly. Jessie laughed, "So you weren´t actually oblivious to May´s infatuation with you? You were pointedly ignoring it because she was too young for you?" 

Ash blushed slightly, "Well yeah, she´s three years younger than me. It wouldn´t feel right to me." The former Team Rocket trio laughed aloud at that, "Oh geez I wish I could see her face when she realizes that." "To answer your previous question, Jessie and I have been dating since Kanto, but we got engaged in Hoenn. I´d say around your fourth gym? Lavaridge?" James answered him casually. "We married in a quiet ceremony in Saffron two months ago, the preacher was very against arranged marriages and didn´t give a damn in blowing it off to wed us," Jessie stated with a chuckle, which she tried to hide behind her hand. The statement reignited the laughter, only this time Ash and Pikachu joined in. "Long story short my parents gave in, Jessebelle did not. She ended up being forcibly evicted from the premises and Growlie came with me when I left," James summarized.

Ash laughed slightly at that, "Well who knew you had it in you." After that, a comfortable silence fell over the group, now on way friendlier terms than before. Suddenly they heard a scream behind them, making Ash sigh, an action surprisingly mirrored by James. "What now?" he asked, his blue hair ruffled by the wind. "We told you we own you!" a larger man stated a cue ball with a large tribal tattoo from his left eye and down the entire side of his head. In front of him stood three slightly less bulky men with studs in their eyebrows, noses and ears, and crazy spiky hair. "Yeah, didn´t ya hear what the boss said girly?" one of the men commented nastily, his tongue licking his lips. On the deck by them, a rather young woman with black hair to the middle of her back sat cowering under them. 

Ash caught James´s eye, "We´re intervening right?" James rose an eyebrow, and simply nodded grimly. "Oy, cue ball! How bout ya try to pick on someone yer own size!" Meowth shouted out to the large man. "Huh?" the sneer on the man´s face would almost be funny if it hadn´t been for the situation in front of him. "You think you´re my size ya rat!?" the cue ball roared back, apparently he wasn´t hard to anger. The three henchmen stepped forward first, only to meet James, Ash, and Meowth standing ready for them. Jessie sat down by their table and sipped on her drink, a blue colored something. 

"Tch," the lead henchman clicked his tongue at them, "You really wanna go?" Seeing that the three didn´t step down the three henchmen threw out their Pokémon. A large Mightyena, a Fearow and a Beedrill. "I´ll take the Fearow," Ash almost yawned, purposely trying to annoy the gang members. James nodded, turning slightly to Meowth, "Which do you want Meowth?" A finger tapping on his mouth Meowth thought about that for a quick second, before deciding, "Beedrill." Then he was about to attack but stopped for a second. "Hey, twerp? Why don´t ya just blast them with Pikachu? Save us the trouble?" The gang members laughed loudly at that, "That little yellow rat couldn´t harm a Magikarp!" Thoroughly annoyed, sparks flew from Pikachu´s cheeks, his eyes narrowed. "I guess if you don´t want to get in on it?" Ash commented easily, again provoking the gang members to laugh loudly and insult Pikachu. James shrugged his shoulders and went back to Jessie, Meowth following him a few steps behind. Ash turned lazily towards the gang members again, a bored look on his face. "Thunderbolt," the one word was said in a bored monotone, almost casually dismissing the gang. 

"Why you little…!" one of the gang members started, only for Pikachu´s Thunderbolt to slam into the Pokémon and absolutely crush them. The three Pokémon fell to the ground beaten and unconscious with an occasional spark jumping from their bodies, much to the shock of everyone around them. "How…?!" one of the other gang members exclaimed before all of them turned on their heels and was about to run away. Unfortunately for them, the sailors had heard the commotion and behind them was the sailor responsible for discipline on board, who promptly gathered the four up and ushered them away. 

Ash simply turned around and joined Jessie, James, and Meowth at their table. "Why is it that there is always something happening around you, kid?" Jessie asked genuinely, somewhat confused. Ash simply shrugged his shoulders, not having any clue how to answer that. "It just happens," were the only words he could honestly tell them. The others laughed at that, "Perhaps us not chasing you won´t change too much, eh?" Ash shook his head mirthfully, "At least I don´t have to deal with you trying to steal Pikachu." They shared another laugh at that and slipped back into a friendly conversation for the rest of the day. 

The morning after the ferry finally docked to the port in Twinleaf Town, and Ash took his first steps into the Sinnoh region and his new adventure. "Sinnoh, finally," Ash whispered as he walked off the ship and quickly found the road leading to Sandgem. –Professor Oak said I should stop by Professor Rowan, Ash thought to himself. –That means my first stop should be in Sandgem Town where Professor Rowan has his lab.

Deciding that keeping to the road wouldn´t give him enough opportunity to observe the local Pokémon, Ash went into the forest walking calmly amongst the trees. In the sky, a flock of black and grey birds flew, and a few smaller rodent Pokémon scurried across the forest floor. There was next to no wind, and aromas of all kinds rose into the air. –This is the way all good journeys should start, Ash thought to himself with a smile on his face.

On his shoulders sat Aipom and Pikachu, Aipom had nearly begged to be allowed outside of her Pokéball. Ash had cut his hair slightly, the still spiky and uncontrollable hair now only reaching slightly down his forehead if it wasn´t put up. He had opted to not wear his hat with his new clothes, as they simply wouldn´t fit together. The rings from his right hand glinted in the sunlight, which a few Flying-types apparently couldn´t resist. A couple of Murkrow and a Starly had been circling him for the last few hours of trekking through the woods, by now thoroughly annoying Ash and both his Pokémon. The Starly was gutsier than the Murkrows though, and soon after Ash had become truly annoyed it attacked in a swooping dive towards his right hand.

The large hand like tail of the purple monkey Pokémon on his shoulder slammed into the small bird, sending it crashing into the ground. "Alright follow up with Swift, Aipom!" Ash commanded, holding Pikachu back. The sea of stars that was Swift cascaded over Starly, who was simply awestruck at the size of the attack not having anticipated it. Starly managed to dodge a few of the early stars before one his solidly, forcing Starly to the ground. "Once more!" The Starly obviously realizing he couldn´t dodge the attack whipped up a Whirlwind attack, deflecting most of the stars and allowing him to easily dodge the few that got through. Then he suddenly sped up and dashed toward Aipom, a Quick Attack. "Dodge that by jumping up, and start charging Focus Punch!" Ash ordered, he was calm even if the little Starly was impressing him.

Aipom barely got out of the way from the Quick Attack, the blue shimmer on her tail glowing brighter by the second. Not realizing what the glow was Starly dove toward Aipom once again, intending to strike with a Wing Attack. "Release!" Only to be struck dead on by Aipom´s powerful Focus Punch, again crashing into the ground with a loud thud. "Pokéball go!" The red and white sphere struck the near unconscious Flying-type and easily pulled him in, though Starly did try to break free unsuccessfully. A few moments later the soft ding signifying a completed capture could be heard in the clearing. Ash smiled happily before he went over and picked up his newest capture, a still pouting Pikachu on his shoulder. "Come on Pikachu, you can´t get all of them. Aipom needs a little experience too you know, seeing as she´s new and all."

That casually mentioned statement made the eyebrows of the stoic and silent bystander raise slightly, he realized it was true as the black haired trainer didn´t know he was present and was talking to his Pokémon. However, just as the purple haired trainer was about to step forward a single shriek was heard over the forest trees.

Ash being who he was and unaware that the purple haired trainer was even present, immediately ran toward the sound. The branches behind him shutting together audibly with a few groans of wood and rustling of leaves. The wind was still calm as ever, only slight rustling in the leaves and grass. A few aromas were spread through the air, the humid and warm day enhancing them in both good and bad ways. The sun warmed the ground immensely, more than a few Pokémon simply lay in the sun soaking in the heat.

The branches scratched over Ash´s face as he was running through the forest, the loud sounds of a quite feminine voice screaming still meeting his ears. –I hope it isn´t anything too serious, but just to be on the safe side, he thought to himself knowing full well that there were parts of the journey that would always prove dangerous. He ran through the forest for nearly 20 minutes before he came across a clearing, where a young girl was barely staying conscious after being attacked by a small group of Ariados.

"Alright, Pikachu take them down! Use Thunder!" he commanded his partner. The powerful stream of electricity had the Ariados fleeing as fast as their legs could carry them, scarpering across the forest floor. "Are you alright!?" he exclaimed, sliding to a stop next to the young girl. "Help…" she whispered before collapsing into his arms. –Shit! Ok, stay calm. Check her pulse first, Ash thought frantically.

Realizing she wasn´t dying Ash calmed down somewhat, allowing him to evaluate what he should do next. He carefully bandaged the young girl up, before he noticed that a small blue penguin Pokémon laid on the ground next to her knocked out cold. Scooping the small Pokémon up, he called on Pidgeot to carry the girl. "Come on Pidgeot, we should reach Professor Rowan´s lab in the next ten minutes or so," Ash stated to his loyal bird. The two carefully making their way to a large open plain, from which they could see in the distance a large brick building with a few weird glass domes. -Observatories, that must be Rowan´s lab, Ash thought to himself.

 **A/N:**

 **I apologize for taking so long, and for making this chapter even shorter than usual. I have as previously stated had a slight writer's block, adding that to the fact that the sun has been bright in my country and I need the exercise I haven´t had too much time to work on my story, much as I would like to. On top of that, I have exams next week. Three of them, in my three worst subjects, and I´m stressing really, REALLY, bad.**

 **Oh and while I remember I got a question:**

 _ **Will Bayleef, Croconaw, Quilava, Ivysaur, and Wartortle evolve to their final form?  
**_

**The question may not have been worded that way, but it´s the same question. And the answer is quite frankly, I don´t know. Two of them I know for sure is evolving again. I´ll have to see what strikes my fancy at the time.**


	6. First Few Steps in Sinnoh

**A/N:**

 **Alright, I´m back! I apologize if I´ve been gone for long, but I´ve been extremely busy and stressed out. I just finished my third final exam today, the day I started this chapter. I don´t think I have any further comments at this time.**

 **So,** **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products.**

 **Let´s get going!**

 **First few steps in Sinnoh**

"Ugh, my head," Dawn mumbled as she woke up. The room around her was nearly completely white, a sterile environment which was well lit due to the sun shining in through the window. "What happened," she mumbled further, bolting straight upwards as a voice answered her. The voice, a gruff deep baritone, belonged to Professor Rowan who stood only a few meters away from the bed, a pair of damp towels resting on his arms. "According to the young man who brought you here, he rescued you from a horde of Ariados."

As she processed the words the memories came back to her clearly, and she exclaimed, "Oh no! Piplup! How´s Piplup?" "Now, now calm down. Ash brought Piplup with him as well, and the little one is resting with Nurse Joy," Professor Rowan. "Ash?" Dawn asked still somewhat confused but recollected the sight of a young man entering the clearing and the flash of an Electric-attack before her memory went blank. "The young man that brought you here," Professor Rowan explained, unaware that Dawn had already come to that conclusion. "Is he still here? I´d like to thank him," Dawn asked, deciding not to comment on the Professor´s latest statement.

"He is indeed, he refused to leave until he knew you´d be alright," the Professor answered her, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. "He´s discussing breeding and training methods with some of my aides," he continued, making sure she took it easy as she got up. As Dawn arose she felt the light touch of bandages to her side, nearly panicking. "You have nothing to worry about, Dawn. One of my female aides and Nurse Joy were the ones to bandage and fix you up," Professor Rowan assured her upon seeing the panicked expression on her face. She nodded slowly, a little embarrassed at having freaked out so obviously.

It took about ten minutes for the two of them to slowly make their way towards the main building where they found Ash in a rather heated debate with a couple of Rowan´s aides, though the subject had become somewhat hard to grasp for anyone not involved. The discussion came to an abrupt halt as the aides noticed their boss enter the room, Ash smiling gently toward Dawn. "How are you holding up?" he asked kindly, something about him just seemed to calm Dawn. "Pretty well, all things considered. No need to worry," she answered, her tone jovial.

"You know it´s one thing to lie to me, but don´t lie to yourself. You´re a rookie trainer that was just injured by wild Pokémon," Ash countered her statement easily, not buying that Dawn was completely fine after the incident. Dawn flinched at his statement but didn´t back down. "That doesn´t mean I´m not going to travel! I…" she tried going off on a tirade but was quickly cut off by Ash. "I didn´t mean that you shouldn´t travel you know. I would never say that to anyone, not when I´ve experienced the joy of traveling myself. I meant that you have to own up to your fears, at least if you ever want to overcome them." 

That caught Dawn completely off guard, resulting in her standing still with her mouth gaping. "Oh. I… I don't know what to say to that," she finally relented, her mouth in a frown. "Not much to say. Most of the time you just have to take it in, and move forward," Ash stated easily, calmly even. At that moment he seemed years wiser than he had ever before, impressing even the grizzled old Professor.

"That is quite the piece of advice young man," Professor Rowan praised quietly. Dawn shook her head slightly, clearing it before she spoke to Ash once again. "Is it possible for you to release the Pokémon you used to help me? I´d like to thank it personally," she requested pleasantly. Ash turned his shoulder slightly towards her, Pikachu sitting proudly toward her. "Go right ahead, he hates the ball anyways," Ash urged her. "Hold on a minute. Did you fight a group of Ariados with a Pikachu? How does that even work, they should have trounced your Pokémon," one of Professor Rowan´s aides burst out mockingly. Ash glared at the said aide, his hand holding a sparking Pikachu back from jumping the clueless man. "Considering Pikachu is my oldest partner, and has stuck by me through thick and thin I´d appreciate it if you don´t insult him again." 

"But he´s a Pikachu!" the aide insisted, "He doesn´t have the power to defeat Pokémon such as Ariados!" Ash sighed, by now visibly straining to hold the quite literally thundering mad mouse back from frying the idiot, "Professor, I see you have a rather large screen here. During my battle with Brandon, we filmed the individual Pokémon I used. Find Pikachu´s entry there and put it up, please." Taken slightly aback by the frosty tone in the otherwise amiable and friendly young trainer's voice, Professor Rowan did just that. It took about 20 minutes to watch the entire entry, and a further 40 before the aides, Dawn and Professor Rowan managed to pick their jaws off the floor. "That is one hell of a powerhouse sitting on your shoulder young man. To think I´d ever see a Pikachu beat a Regice," Professor Rowan let that statement hang loosely in the air.

"I did tell you he was my oldest friend didn´t I?" Ash asked rhetorically. "Well I´m leaving now, feels like it´s time to go." His casual statement sent the others into action, the aides nearly demanding to study his Pokémon. "I´m not letting you anywhere near my Pokémon, well except Professor Rowan. You made it abundantly clear that weaker Pokémon doesn't interest you, but all Pokémon can be powerful. It depends on how they're trained, and who is training them," Ash shot them down, close to harshly. His words seemed to strike a chord with the aides, as every single one of them averted their gazes in shame, even the ones who hadn´t actually commented either way.

As he slowly walked out he heard Dawn speak from behind him, a quiet nearly whispering question. "Do you think… Could I travel with you?" Ash stopped and turned to look at the younger girl that stood by the researchers, looking very uncomfortable with the attention. He smiled gently, answering her question with a question of his own, "Why do you want to travel with me?" She shifted slightly before she answered "I… I don´t want to travel alone. I…I´m scared I think." Ash nodded, his gentle smile still lingering on his lips. "Then come along, I´ll help you get started at least."

Dawn smiled timidly and ran up to walk beside Ash, but just as she moved through the door there was another moving in. The two ended up colliding, sending Dawn on her ass. Her temper flared slightly, "Hey, that wasn´t very nice!" The purple haired trainer glared at her, making her swallow slightly at the intensity in his eyes. "I´m not here for you," he stated simply, his eyes drifting from her to Ash. "I assume you´re here for me?" Ash asked, humor evident in his tone. "I am, the names Paul Shinji. I saw you capture your Starly, and heard you state that the Aipom was rather new. I wish to challenge you to a battle," Paul stated calmly, almost politely though Ash still heard the haughty undertone in his voice. –I guess battling him might be fun? I´ve never been one to shy away from a challenge anyway, Ash thought to himself. "One on one, or three on three?" he asked aloud.

Paul´s eyes widened, perhaps not fully believing Ash would take him up on his challenge. A slightly arrogant smile slipped onto Paul´s face, though one with less experience than Ash might say it was simply confidence. "I´ve always found three on three to be a truer test of a trainer´s mettle, though I have yet to get your name," Paul responded. "Three on three it is. I´m Ash Ketchum, by the way," Ash answered before turning to Professor Rowan. "You wouldn´t happen to have a battlefield or a meadow we could use do you?" he asked politely, bowing his head slightly to the professor. "I do believe you can make use of my garden," the professor answered with his rough voice.

The three trainers were followed outside by all of Professor Rowan´s aides, who wanted to see Ash in action. "Do we need a judge?" Ash asked, still polite but a bit frosty. The arrogance he recognized in Paul angering him minutely, he had, after all, had to contend with the king of arrogance, Gary Oak, before he turned researcher. "No I believe we will both know when one of us have won the round," Paul stated easily, obviously believing he would easily win. –If you think this is going to so easily, why´d you even challenge me? Ash thought to himself. "Alright then let´s start," Ash allowed, picking a Pokéball from his belt. 

"Elekid let´s go!" Paul ordered, his voice turning stoic. –Emotionless battler, huh? Ash thought in his mind. Aloud he called for his first Pokémon, "Croconaw let´s go!" Paul glared at him, before nearly shouting at him, "You saw me release an Electric-type and choose to go with a Water-type? Are you stupid or something?!" Ash simply shook his head with an amused smile on his mouth, even as Croconaw laughed uproariously. "Let´s get this over with then," Paul stated through gritted teeth, "Thunderbolt go!" Ash didn´t even command Croconaw either way, his Pokémon taking the powerful Electric-type attack head-on. "Ha! That´s one win for me!" Paul stated, reaching for his Pokéball to return Elekid. 

"You know if you return Elekid, you forfeit right?" Ash asked him with a grin on his face. Croconaw stood still staring at Elekid, seemingly unhurt by the attack that had just hit it dead-on. "What!?" With a slight heave of effort, Croconaw pulled its Iron Tail attack from the ground, its tail swishing easily behind it. Ash chuckled slightly at the look on Paul´s face, hilariously out of place as it was. "You thought I didn´t teach my Pokémon ways to defend against their weaknesses? Croconaw is so used to fighting against my Pikachu that using the Iron Tail grounding technique has become instinctual to him." 

Croconaw raised its right hand and made the universal 'come at me' gesture towards Elekid, sending the powerful Electric-type into a rage. "Use Thunder Punch, Elekid!" Paul ordered angrily. "Ice Punch to counter that!" Ash commanded audibly. The crack of wind broke harshly against everyone´s ears as the two attack clashed, though it became apparent quickly that Croconaw was vastly more powerful. "Use your other hand!" Paul ordered, his calm cool expression long forgotten. Even though it wasn´t long into the battle at all. "Bite," Ash said simply. The second Thunder Punch heading for Croconaw was gobbled up, Croconaw´s jaw clutching the arm tightly. "Send him flying, Croconaw," Ash stated. Tossing Elekid into the air slightly Croconaw followed up by cascading it with water, courtesy of a Hydro Pump.

As Elekid crashed into a tree it revealed itself to be knocked out, angering Paul greatly. "Return! I´ll give you one more chance to prove yourself or you´re gone!" he spat harshly toward the Pokéball. Ash´s eyes narrowed in irritation, his mood already taking a dive as a result of Paul´s arrogant nature. "You would toss away a Pokémon for losing?" he asked, his voice tightly controlled. "I only need powerful Pokémon, if they manage to lose even with a type advantage then they´re no good to me," Paul responded angrily. Ash took a few breaths to calm himself before he responded to that, "All Pokémon can be powerful if you train them right. Releasing one for losing only shows you aren´t worthy of winning in the first place!"

"What would you know!?" Paul roared back, "Let´s just continue the battle!" Ash gritted his teeth, having to really fight to maintain control over his feelings. "Yeah, let´s get this over with so I can get you out of my sight." Ash motioned for Croconaw to sit by the bystanders, something the blue Pokémon more than happily did dancing all the way over. "Let´s go Starly!" Ash revealed his second Pokémon. The small bird Pokémon floated easily in the skies, looking curiously upon his new trainer before nodding in satisfaction. "I saw you catch that weakling earlier today! What are you getting at!?" It appeared Paul was not amused by Ash´s decision, though that was the whole point anyway.

"Just call out your own Pokémon," Ash sighed, his joy having already been ripped out of the battle. "Well, I´ll show you why you only train the strongest you can get. I bet your Starly doesn´t even know Aerial Ace, but mine does!" Paul roared, as another Starly appeared on the field. "How powerful a Pokémon is doesn´t change due to the moves it knows," Ash sighed irritably, by now the purple-haired upstart had started to truly get on his nerves. He had on purpose kept his volume so low that Paul couldn´t hear him, not entirely feeling up to arguing with him.

"Starly let´s start with Aerial Ace!" Paul commanded, intent on finishing the battle with a vicious onslaught. Ash shook his head, "You know there are ways to deal with never miss moves right? Countering them for example, Whirlwind!" Ash ordered, his Starly not missing a beat. The large-scale wind slammed Paul´s Starly into the ground, effectively breaking the Aerial Ace. "Get up! Get up, and use Aerial Ace!" Paul shouted at the poor Starly. Ash gritted his teeth, biting the inside of his cheek to avoid yelling at the easily angered trainer. "Starly finish this with Wing Attack," he ordered sadly. His bird Pokémon easily closed the gap and socked the other in the beak with its wing, knocking it down and out. "Useless!" Paul raged, seemingly forgetting the others present for a moment.

Ash´s young bird Pokémon floated calmly on the wind back to its trainer, landing on the unoccupied shoulder and settling in. "Great work, buddy," Ash praised it silently, scratching its plumage. Paul had returned his Starly, only to release the Pokémon back into the wild. For the first time Ash was truly angry at his opponent, instead of simply annoyed, "What did you do that for?" "It was weak enough to lose to a Starly you captured earlier today, one that was inferior to it in any case. I have no need for weaklings," Paul scoffed. Ash´s right hand clenched involuntarily, and the sound of his gritting teeth was audible even for the researchers and Dawn.

"That still doesn´t excuse the fact that you effectively damned that Starly!" Ash roared back, having a hard time checking his anger. Distantly he heard Dawn ask Professor Rowan, "What does Ash mean? That Paul damned the Starly he released?" Even though he wasn´t interested at all, he actually caught Professor Rowan´s reply. "Captured Pokémon, whether they have been released or not, isn´t welcomed by wild Pokémon most of the time. Most researchers chalk it up to envy, but that doesn't really matter." "So Starly is doomed to be alone now?" Dawn asked sadly, nearing tears actually. –She seems more prone to compassion and sadness than gluttony or anger, Ash noted. That alone put her higher in Ash´s books than either Misty or May. 

Ash answered her, "Not necessarily. But captured Pokémon usually get a bit complacent and forget their hunting or gathering habits. Which means that getting food gets a whole lot tougher if they are captured and then released." A light of realization spread across Dawn´s face, "That´s horrible!" Ash nodded grimly, "It is. Unfortunately, I´ve learned that trainers like Paul here aren´t that uncommon. Trainers like me are rarer, but then again I´m not your average trainer in any way," Ash mused loudly. Paul clicked his tongue in frustration, causing Ash to raise an eyebrow at the rather childish response to his not so subtle boast. On the other hand, boasting wasn´t very mature either, so perhaps that canceled each other out. 

"Let´s get going with the last battle," Paul demanded, not responding either way to the conversation that he no doubt overheard. "Chimchar stand by for battle!" Paul ordered, letting out the small orange Fire-type. "Bayleef let's go!" Ash called, summoning his overly affectionate Grass-type. Paul grit his teeth and glared at Ash, before slowly, trying desperately not to snarl, asking in an angry tone, "Are you trying to insult me? That is the second time you have knowingly sent out a Pokémon with the type disadvantage." Ash grinned cheekily, "And how exactly did that end last time?" The smartass reply seemed to anger Paul further, something Ash really had thought wouldn´t even be possible any longer.

"Bayleef start off with Body Slam!" Ash commanded, making the first move. His trusted Grass-type immediately sprang into action and nearly flattened the poor Chimchar only a short moment later. Paul, Ash realized, hadn´t even commanded Chimchar to dodge. –Please don´t tell me this guy believes that dodging is too weak, Ash thought exasperated. –Whatever let´s just end this, he thought further before commanding aloud, "Bayleef use Sunny Day!" Paul smirked at him from across the field, "You do realize that Chimchar is a Fire-type and that you just powered his attacks?" Ash shook his head at the naivety of his opponent as if he´d forget something like that this far into his journey. 

"Flamethrower!" Paul roared, intent on finishing the battle with at least one victory. Ash smirked, "Bayleef let her rip!" Bayleef, already knowing what Ash had planned from the Sunny Day, smirked and almost immediately fired off an incredibly powerful Solarbeam. The white beam of energy completely dwarfed and engulfed the Flamethrower, before it slammed into Chimchar and sent it flying into a tree several meters behind Paul. When the dust settled Chimchar was knocked out cold, laying spread-eagle on the ground. "What!?" Paul exclaimed, honestly stunned at how the battle turned out.

"What did you expect? That I was given you the round?" Ash asked, not really understanding why Paul was as shocked as he was. Hadn´t he showed that his Pokémon were powerful, enough so that type disadvantages might not matter as much as some people believed? "I expected that I´d be able to beat you," Paul gritted out through clenched teeth. Ash rose an eyebrow, "Not that I mind the attitude in that statement, but why did you believe so strongly that you could beat me?" Paul nearly snarled at the veiled insult, at least he perceived it as such. "You don´t seem older than me, so we´ve probably been traveling for about the same amount of time, and…" before Paul could continue, Ash interrupted him, somewhat rudely. 

"We might be the same age, I´m 16. I´m pretty sure I´ve been traveling longer than you though," Ash cut in, before continuing, "You seem to be a Sinnoh native, judging by the fact that Professor Rowan seemed like he knew you. So if we´re the same age and you´re from Sinnoh, this would be your second year out right?" Paul nodded, glaring at Ash for interrupting him. "This is my _sixth_ year traveling," Ash stressed the amount, "I´m from Kanto, I started at age 10." That caused Paul´s eyes to widen, "You´ve been traveling for six years!?" Ash nodded and pointed slightly to Croconaw, who was sitting by the fence relaxing, and Bayleef, who was rubbing her head against his arm, "Both of them are veterans on my team. I caught both as their primary stages and trained them to what they are now."

Paul narrowed his eyes, "You´re trying to convince me that my style is wrong. Sorry but you´re wrong, the way I do this is the only way to become as strong as possible." As he said that he turned on his heel and returned Chimchar, stalking away from the meadow. He turned his head slightly as he walked off, "If they had fought against the veteran Pokémon on _my_ team they would have lost, hard." With that he left Ash fuming behind him, his hand clenched so hard that had he not been wearing gloves you would see white knuckles.

-Arrogant bastard, Ash thought in his own mind. –Seeming so sure that my friends would have lost no matter what if he had used his older Pokémon. "That was incredible!" Dawn exclaimed as she stepped closer to Ash, who hadn´t realized she was moving yet. Reaching over he scratched Bayleef´s head, much to her delight, before he answered, "That wasn´t much." It was a truthful statement, for a guy regularly getting involved with legendaries winning that match was really not a big deal. "Well, I wouldn´t know that!" Dawn protested embarrassed, "What I do know is that I have a really long way to go."

Ash laughed goodheartedly, "Well yeah. No one accomplishes much right out of the gate. Personally I had trouble with several gyms throughout my first journey, still happens sometime actually. And don´t get me started on the obedience aspect, sheesh did I have trouble with you guys the first year." The last statement was directed at Pikachu, who was sheepishly rubbing the back of his head on Ash´s shoulder. "Pi-pika-chu," Pikachu chittered, seemingly understandably to Ash´s ears. "Well yeah he was the worst, but you weren´t easy yourself, buddy," he responded easily, with a grin on his face.

Around the small group, the sun had started to set, a slight breeze lowering the temperature even further. A slight rustling in the grass accompanied the low whistle, and a few branches groaned lightly. "Well we better get going if we want to get any distance today," Ash commented. Turning around and starting to walk before he noticed that Dawn didn´t follow him, instead standing behind him with sadness in her eyes. "Hey, Dawn! What are you waiting for? I said I was going to show you the ropes, didn´t I? Hurry up!" he called back kindly. A hesitant smile spread across Dawn´s face before she quickly said her goodbyes to the researchers and sprinted up to Ash. As they disappeared from Professor Rowan´s view he saw them laughing and discussing together, walking side by side with smiles on their faces. 

**A/N:**

 **I know I´m late, I know. I also know the chapter is somewhat shorter than I want it to be. However, I have no more I need or feel like putting in it at this time and I really want to get another one put out so you guys know I´m still working on this. I finished my last final a couple of days ago now (yes, I´ve been working on one chapter for that long) so I might,** **might** **be able to write quicker this time. I am making no promises on that front. Especially since I have recently gotten an idea for another fanfiction that I want to try my hand at. It´s not a Pokémon fanfic, I really don´t feel like writing two fanfics concerning the same anime at the same time. Oh, and I remembered something I wanted to point out. Paul didn´t start the same year as Ash did, he should have but wasn´t in the first batch that year and therefore had to wait due to the raising of the age limit. I think that´s all.**

 **Until next time!**


	7. A Newbies Torment

**A/N: Well, it´s been a while. I know that, and I´m sorry. I´ve had a lot on my plate lately. Work has been killer and most of my energy has gone to be able to stay awake. Doesn´t help that one of my jobs required me to spend a week without any chance of bringing my PC so I couldn´t write. That being said I do try to bring a new chapter as swiftly as possible for me, and I´m not the one to abandon a story, rewriting yes but not abandoning. I have like 32 stories I wrote when I was between the ages of 8-13 that I still regularly change and write on, so…  
**

 _ **Well no matter, as usual, I do not own Pokémon or any associated products.  
**_

 **The first days are always the hardest**

"Come on, Dawn. I want to get some distance behind me before we have to set up camp for the night," Ash stated, his head turned to look at his newest companion. The young blue-haired girl maturely responded by blowing a raspberry at him, causing him to laugh loudly. "My feet have blisters and I am drenched in sweat. I am not having a good time," Dawn complained childishly, further amusing Ash. "If you aren´t prepared for this you might want to quit now," Ash commented, someplace between teasing and dead-serious.

"I´m not giving up on my journey!" Dawn denied vehemently, "I´m just not used to traveling yet." Piplup was trudging next to his trainer, much more at ease than she was. "Besides you promised to help give me pointers, and I´m not passing that up," she continued. Ash simply shook his head, amused. "Then stop complaining already, jeez. We haven´t even traveled that far, and I even let you choose our next destination," he reprimanded her.

Dawn blushed at being spoken to like that but tried responding to the statement. "Well, Jubilife is hosting a Pokémon Contest in a week, and it´s pretty close to Oreburgh where one of the Gyms are located, so I thought it was a good choice for both of us." Ash smiled at her, causing her blush to further develop, "I didn´t say I didn´t approve of your choice Dawn, but it will get tiresome if you don´t stop complaining."

The wind ruffled through Ash´s at that moment, the low whistle nearly inaudible to human ears. "Well, I´m tired!" Dawn complained in answer, making Ash sigh in exasperation. "You know you´d be less tired if you focused on walking instead of talking?" Ash cut in annoyed, "Whatever, let´s just stop to take a bite to eat."

His tone had a bit of ice in it, which Dawn wisely chose to not comment on. As it happened Ash himself was hungry, he had just gotten a lot better at pretending he wasn't. If he was to eat every time he felt the slightest bit hungry he´d be out of money in a week. Never mind the fact that he was literally loaded due to his own adventures and his father´s sizable severance package. It didn´t take long for Ash to find a rather large rock formation which served as both chair and table for the occasion, starting up the portable gas stove he always brought with him. "What do we feel like? I have an odd assortment of quick meals," Ash asked his relieved traveling partner, who had sat down for her breather and taken of her boots.

"I think I have some noodles myself, and some dried meat and bread. So maybe we could prepare some meat to go with noodles?" Dawn suggested, as she tenderly massaged her feet. Ash nodded, "Yeah I guess that would work."

Even though Ash would at no time boast that he was a great chef, the years traveling with Brock had, in fact, allowed him to pick up on some things. About 10 minutes later the lunch meal was ready, and Ash left Dawn alone for just a short while to go feed his Pokémon. It wasn´t that he was against Dawn seeing his team, but he had silently decided to himself that he would enjoy surprising her at every possible turn. The only members of his team that Dawn knew about was Pikachu, Starly, Croconaw, and Bayleef. She had no idea about the others Ash had brought with him, and she wouldn´t until Ash decided to show her.

It took nearly an hour before the two companions started moving again, Ash realizing that Dawn´s feet would actually need the break. Now though they had started moving at a fairly even tempo, if a bit slower than Ash would have liked. "You told Paul that you had been traveling for like six years, right? Not to mention that you actually showed us how well trained your Pokémon are," Dawn started to ramble, it was simple curiosity. Ash smiled, grinned really, and waited patiently for Dawn to actually get to her point. "What do you count as your greatest achievement over these six years?" Ah, that was difficult for Ash to answer, especially as a few of his encounters and deeds were classified. "I think I´ll say the Battle Frontier, for now at least."

Dawn smiled, the somewhat ambiguous answer seemingly sparking more interest than it quenched. Suddenly, Dawn squealed loudly and nearly sprinted away from Ash. It didn´t take Ash long to realize why, as a few meters away in the open meadow bounced a small rabbit-like Pokémon. -Hm, I´ve never seen this Pokémon before, Ash thought to himself. Sure, he had studied a lot with Professor Oak, but it had been mostly how types, natures and abilities affected how a Pokémon acted and how-to best care for them from there.

Scanning the new arrival with his Pokédex, Ash listened intently to what the mechanical voice stated. "Buneary, the rabbit Pokémon. These small Pokémon use their immense leg strength to quickly move around and attack their opponents. They have also been reported to attack using their ears. Usually, these Pokémon are quite docile and would rather flee than fight." With its explanation done the mechanical voice turned off with an audible click. "I´m going to catch it!" Dawn exclaimed, pulling an empty Pokéball from her bag. Before she could fling the ball at the Buneary Ash cut in slightly hesitantly, "Dawn? You need to battle the Pokémon before you try to capture it."

Dawn flushed, stuttering out defensively, "I…I knew that." "Piplup I choose you," Dawn stated, bringing the small penguin Pokémon over in a hurry. Adopting a thinking pose Dawn tried remembering what moves Piplup knew, "Dawn if you want to catch that Buneary you should probably hurry. It doesn´t look like its sticking around." Ash´s voice drew her out of her silent musings and seeing the Buneary slowly bounce away caused Dawn to panic. "Piplup use Bubblebeam!" she shouted, fairly certain that her new partner could perform that attack.

To her relief she was right and the cascading wave of exploding bubbles landed on the unaware Normal-type. The small bunny Pokémon obviously wasn´t too big of a fan of the sneak attack, because it reacted by launching a staggeringly fast Dizzy Punch attack. The ears, now acting as lightning fast arms, slammed into Piplup faster than either the Pokémon or the trainer could react. "Oh, Piplup!" Dawn wailed, not noticing Ash´s sigh and slight headshake. "You need to order Piplup further, Dawn. Dodging and countering are also things you need to think about," Ash explained calmly, knowing full well that he had been just as hopeless at the start if not more. Dawn calmed slightly and nodded determinedly.

"Piplup use Bide," Dawn commanded. Piplup immediately sprang up and started glowing the eerie glow of the Bide. Apparently, the Buneary had no intention of getting hit by the move, using a Bounce to spring high into the air. Instead of continuing the fight though, the Buneary used the Bounce to disappear into the forest. "Oh, no come back!" Dawn cried after the rapidly escaping Pokémon. Ash gazed after it before he turned to Dawn and consolingly said, "You can´t get them all. You´ll get one another time." Dawn sniffled a few times, but got up and straightened out. -Why are all the girls I travel with so prone to one type of emotional outburst or another, Ash thought in his mind.

Taking a few moments before they left the meadow, the two continued on their way amiably chatting the entire way. "Experience is the most crucial component in being a good trainer, and it is also one of the few things you simply have to earn," Ash explained as the two kept walking. "I can share a bit of my experiences and try to teach you a few tricks, but ultimately it is your own experience that makes you as a trainer." Dawn nodded, paying rapt attention to Ash.

As the evening started to fall Ash suddenly noticed what seemed like a Solarbeam in the distance. -Wonder if that´s a Trainer practicing with his Pokémon?, he thought to himself but he didn´t voice his thoughts. "Do you want to take a break? Maybe get in a little training?" he asked instead, seeing that Dawn had started to slow down a little again. At his question though she perked up, smiling brightly. Ash noticed absently that he really liked her smile, finding her really pretty even as the sweat made her bangs stick to her forehead.

"All right!" Dawn cheered, pumping her fist in the air. Almost dancing around in glee she took quite some time to settle down. "Let´s take it a little easier at first, all right? Croconaw, how about you show Piplup a thing or two?" he gently asked. Croconaw, who for some reason came out of the Pokéball sitting against a tree, rose an eyelid, yawned heavily and sluggishly got up. Ash blinked slightly, -My Croconaw can get tired? Hm, who knew?

"Piplup, you up for a little training?" Dawn asked her partner, the small blue penguin thumping his chest before stepping forward. "Take the first move, Dawn," Ash smiled kindly at her. "Okay! Piplup use Peck!" Dawn ordered Ash had told her about the Pokédex function to scan her Pokémon so Dawn finally knew all of Piplup´s moves. "Croconaw!" Ash stated simply, a simple order in his voice that didn´t need to be uttered. Croconaw, knowing exactly what Ash wanted, stepped aside and allowed Piplup to pass by harmlessly. "Follow it up with a Water Gun!" The crocodile Pokémon let out a gush of water, sending Piplup flying backward. Dawn´s eyes narrowed as she noticed a difference in Croconaw´s strength. "That wasn´t near what you used against Paul!" she accused.

Shaking his head slightly Ash answered her, "Of course it isn´t. Against Paul I had Croconaw use a Hydro Pump because that was a battle. This is training. Allowing Croconaw to use too much power wouldn´t help Piplup grow." Dawn blinked, her mouth slightly agape. "I…I didn´t consider that," she stated finally. Ash shrugged, "Croconaw use Scary Face, followed by Ice Punch." Though the sleepy drooping of Croconaw´s eyes lessened the effect somewhat, Piplup was still terrified into inactivity. The following Ice Punch froze a larger part of the clearing they were in, including Piplup´s feet.

"That´s enough, Croconaw. We have a guest," Ash stated suddenly, catching Dawn completely by surprise. A moment later a tall young man stepped out from the bushes, his moss green cape billowing in the slight breeze. In his hands was a golden harp shaped like a Mew, but most of his face was hidden by a bush style hat with a black band. "My apologies, I had no intention of spying on the two of you. I was simply on my way back to the Pokécenter and happened to hear the commotion," the young man politely excused the interference. Ash smiled, "That´s alright. I actually figured it was something like that." That seemed to catch the other trainer slightly off-guard, as he rose an eyebrow. "Oh? Might I ask what made you come to that conclusion before I spoke?" the young man asked calmly, not at all perturbed by Ash´s statement.

Ash grinned, and a slight chuckle escaped from his throat, "I saw a Solarbeam earlier. I assume that was you during a training session?" The young man seemed to take it in stride as he too chuckled before answering, "Indeed it was. I feel I must apologize again for interrupting your own training session." The young man did seem apologetic for the perceived slight, even as little as Ash cared. "That´s alright," Ash waved him off before a mischievous smile erupted onto his lips. "But you wouldn´t care for a battle, would you?"

The wind had died down at this point and not even a slight rustle came from the leaves around them, a serene tranquility laying over the meadow. The young man rose an eyebrow thoughtfully before his lips morphed into a polite smile. "I would be honored. Are you thinking against yourself or the young lady?" he answered calmly a few minutes later, striking a few chords on his harp as he did. The melodious chime lulled the already sleepy Croconaw into complete slumber, and he landed on the ground snoring. The sight made all three trainers chortle in amusement, but also prompted Ash to answer. "I meant against Dawn, to give her a little experience against someone who isn´t me," he stated calmly, gesturing in Dawn´s direction.

Dawn smiled and nodded her head as a determined expression made itself prevalent on her face. The young man bowed deeply, his cape somehow billowing in an impressive manner instead of hanging down like drapes. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Nando," he stated courteously, "And I accept the challenge." "Good, I´ll just be seated over here then," Ash stated before returning Croconaw and moving to a large rock on the outskirts of the meadow. "All right, are you ready Piplup?" Dawn asked her partner, who had during the conversation defrosted and recovered. "Pi-Piplup!" Piplup boasted, thumping its small flipper on its chest.

"And I will use, Budew!" Nando declared in a grandiose manner and released his Pokémon with an extravagant movement. -Huh, he must be a primarily contest trainer, Ash thought to himself with a risen eyebrow. "All right let´s kick this off with Sunny Day if you please!" Nando declared an order that was instantly complied with as Budew shot a brightly shining ball of energy into the air. "Dawn! You need to be careful, alright!" Ash told his traveling companion, a warning but one that was vague enough that she had to think for herself.

"Right! Piplup let´s start this off with Peck!" she decided. The tiny blue penguin Pokémon ran towards its opponent, its beak shining white. "Budew dodge that, and retaliate with Mega Drain!" Nando commanded casually, not very visibly concerned. It became apparent why just a few short moments later, as Budew danced out of the way of Piplup´s attack. The tendrils of the Mega Drain latched onto Piplup as it came barreling past, freezing its movement and entrapping it in the attack. "Oh no! Eh, Piplup use Bubblebeam to try and force Budew away!" Dawn shouted uncertainly.

The exploding cascade of bubbles did the job of pushing Budew away, and freeing Piplup from the attack, but a lot of damage had already been sustained. "Budew if you please use Razor Leaf," Nando asked of his Pokémon. Budew seemed positively giddy as it danced around while releasing a storm of sharpened leaves towards its opponent. Throughout the battle, Nando has been absentmindedly been playing the harp, providing a comforting background sound to the battle. -Not many battles have its own accompanying music, Ash thought as he smiled.

"Dodge that Piplup and fire Water Gun!" Dawn ordered, her voice gaining in confidence again. Her partner managed to dodge nearly every leaf, but as it became apparent to it that the last few were going to hit Piplup rather fired the Water Gun and sent the leaves to the ground. This also served to soak a large portion of the battleground, making the grass slippery. Dawn´s face lit up as an idea came into her mind, "Piplup pick up speed and use the slippery grass to glide forward!" The strategy seemed to work in her favor for the first minute or so before Nando ordered his next move. "Budew use Razor Leaf once again!"

"Piplup protect yourself with Peck!" Dawn commanded, her voice now confident. As the incoming attack soared towards Piplup, he managed to counter it perfectly using his powerful beak. However, to do so he had to remain stationary, which was just the opportunity Nando had waited for. "Now Budew use Solarbeam!" he ordered. The beautiful beam of condensed sunlight soared towards Piplup only seconds after the attack was ordered, catching Dawn completely by surprise. The attack slammed into Piplup and knocked it out of the fight. "Piplup no!" Dawn screamed, running towards her partner and sliding to a stop on her knees. Her skirt, shoes, and socks were drenched from the remaining water in the soaked grass, not that she minded or really noticed.

"Well, that´s the match, Dawn," Ash commented, getting up. "I thought Solarbeam needed more time to charge?" she sniffed, a tear in her eye. "Hey, chin up, Dawn. You battled well for a rookie," Ash complimented her. Nando took it upon himself to explain the answer to her question though, "And while normally you´d be correct, and Solarbeam would have needed a while longer to charge that is not the case during a Sunny Day attack. I assume that is what Ash, it is Ash," he questioned toward Ash getting a curt nod in response, "was trying to warn you about right after I had Budew use Sunny Day."

"Bu-budew-bu," Budew exclaimed and ran around in complete glee. It caught Ash´s attention and he smiled towards the hyperactive Pokémon. Taking Ash and the others completely by surprise the Budew started to shine as it ran around, prompting a massive beaming smile to appear on Nando´s face. "Oh, that explains why it seemed so extremely powerful for one of its species," Ash uttered softly as he watched the evolution happen. Dawn stared at the blinding light, only smiling once she saw the beautiful Pokémon that appeared after the light died down. The new plantlike Pokémon stood on two stubs, faintly reminding Dawn of the roots of her mother´s flowers, and had roses for hands one blue and one red. "What Pokémon is this?" Dawn asked as she fumbled for her Pokédex. "Roselia, it really is a classy Pokémon. I know a very skilled coordinator that started his journey with one, too bad the Pokémon has more class than him. He can be, kind of a pretentious jerk," Ash answered her, reminiscing briefly about his days traveling with May.

He actually felt stupid for how he felt when Drew flirted with his former companion. He had acted jealously more than once, despite not feeling attracted to the three years younger girl whatsoever. "Found it!" Dawn exclaimed as she dug her Pokédex out of her backpack. The metallic, yet oddly feminine voice of Dawn´s Pokédex stated out easily, "Roselia, the Thorn Pokémon. This Pokémon secretes toxins through their flowers and can easily spread spores through the air by shaking their flowers. Many people agree that it is one of the most elegant Pokémon." The metallic voice whirred down, as its statement was finished.

"It´s so pretty!" Dawn exclaimed, causing both the boys to smile and the Roselia to cheer. "Pi-Piplup," Piplup stated, standing behind Dawn after having mostly recovered. "Oh, I´m so sorry Piplup!" Dawn wailed, immediately shifting all her attention back to her partner. "Well, we should probably get to the Pokécenter," Ash stated as he looked around, the evening had fallen while they had been battling together and darkness clung to the forest like a blanket. "Indeed, that might be best," Nando agreed amiably as the three trainers and their Pokémon headed for the nearby Pokécenter.

"So, I´m guessing you're a traveling Coordinator?" Ash asked Nando casually as they walked side by side, trailing slightly behind Dawn who was nervous about the dark. To his surprise, Nando sighed, and answered, "I am actually quite unsure what I wish to pursue. I love allowing my Pokémon to show their true strength, but at the same time, I absolutely adore allowing them to show their beauty. I am in a bind as to which I enjoy more, and thus I am also unsure whether Gyms or Contests are the thing for me." -This guy sure talks in ways I don´t really understand. Meh, guess that´s just the poet in him, Ash thought to himself. Aloud, and in quite a deadpan, he simply said, "Then do both." Nando stopped shortly before he caught himself and gazed at Ash. "What do you mean?" he asked curiously, obviously not understanding.

Ash sighed exasperatedly, "The two aren´t mutually exclusive, even if there is a general rivalry between the two classes. Most cities with a Gym also host Contests, and the Gyms don´t go anywhere. They are accessible whenever you please, well as long as the Gym Leader is available." As he explained he saw that the light little by little became brighter with Nando, who in the end laughed quietly to himself. "It really is that easy, isn´t it? Simply do both if you enjoy them the same," Nando mused to himself, the easy smile still lingering on his face. The two had been seated on a couch in the Pokécenter for a short while at this point, as the Pokécenter had only taken about two minutes to arrive at from where they were.

Dawn had left them just a moment ago to pick up Piplup from the desk and came back to join them now; carrying her partner in her hands. As she sat down with the two others, putting Piplup in her lap, she smiled tiredly. "Ash we got our rooms. Mines 206 and yours is 205," she stated sleepily. With a large yawn, she decided, "I´m going to bed. See you tomorrow, Ash, Nando." "Indeed, my friend. I wish you a good night´s sleep and pleasant dreams," the woodland poet kindly stated, playing a few soothing strings on his harp. "You know what, I think sleep would do us all some good. What do you say buddy?" the last statement Ash had directed towards his partner, the ever-present Pikachu. who answered with only a slight nod, seemingly well on his way to being asleep already.

It took only a few minutes for Ash to fall asleep that evening, a smile on his lips as he thought about what adventures lay before him in this new and exciting region.

 **A/N:**

 **Well, I hope you are happy that I have managed to get you a new chapter. It is admittedly a bit shorter than I had planned, but I have been combating a severe writer´s block so even getting this much as been a struggle. The last 2 000 words came in today actually. I am sorry it has taken me this long to update, but I have been working on my school projects. I just moved to a city that´s 8 hours from where I lived previously and started university in the process so my attention and energy have been spread very thin. I will hopefully, get back into updating regularly as I come into a steadier rhythm with my everyday life. But for now, I hope you have enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Oh, and I said that Ash would catch non-cannon Pokémon so if you have an idea, a plausible idea, you are more than free to PM me with the suggestion. If you also have a way for me to incorporate the Pokémon into the story that would also be appreciated, and it would be easier for me to actually consider the Pokémon more closely.**

 **Well then, till next time!**


	8. Why does this always happen to me!

**A/N:**

 **Alright, people, I´m starting this the day after the last chapter went up, so hopefully, it won´t be too long of a wait this time. First, a few small notices, when I asked for suggestions for Ash to capture Pokémon I specified that I´d like them in PM. That is so the surprise won´t be ruined for the one who didn´t suggest the Pokémon. So, if you have a suggestion please PM them to me. Now to answer a few;  
**

 **Dresden12:** **Thank you for the suggestion, and for actually using the PM as I requested. I might actually go ahead with the suggestion, but you seem to assume that that chain of events is going to be the same as in the anime, and that isn´t actually my plan. You´ll see what I mean sooner or later.  
**

 **True Master:** **It is highly unlikely that I let Ash catch any shiny Pokémon, nor will he catch two of the same Pokémon. It is possible though that he catches one and perhaps Dawn getting one.**

 **Reaper36:** **I have an idea concerning Absol, but it won´t be Ash, sorry. The two others are unlikely as well, unfortunately, considering there are so many people introduced with one of Budew´s evolutions and Ash already has Glalie, so as I said previously he won´t catch another duplicate of Snorunt.**

 **Star1X:** **Glad you enjoyed that, I simply wanted to illustrate that Ash had many eyes following his progress. I never said that May left with Drew, I said she and Max went back to Petalburg. I simply don´t like Drew. As for the Pokémon suggestion, I´m trying to incorporate that, don´t know yet if I´ll succeed to my satisfaction. The last suggestion is in the works actually, you´ll see what I mean.**

 **A Guest:** **I´m very glad that you enjoy my story so far. As for your suggestions, the first one is unlikely to be for Ash. I am bringing back a character in this chapter that it might fit for though. As for the two others, I can certainly think about it and might well give him one of them. I don´t plan on giving him too many non-cannon Pokémon though. And he already has one pseudo which is non-canon and will get one that is canon, so giving him a third might be a bit much.**

 **I´ve said it in every other chapter and I will say it in all the following as well;**

 **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products, nor do I write this for profit.**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

 **Why is it always me?!**

Ash yawned deeply as he got up the following day, sluggishly walking over to the sink and splashing water onto his face to wake himself up completely. Slowly he got into his new clothes and made his way into the lobby of the Pokécenter, to meet Dawn for breakfast. Only to find that Dawn wasn´t there yet, though all things considered that wasn´t that strange. -Not everyone gets up at 5 in the morning to train, Ash thought to himself amusedly. He quietly made his way outside and made his way to the clearing he and Dawn had used the previous day, as it was only about a 10-minute walk from the Pokécenter.

When he finally arrived, he let out all his Pokémon, filling the clearing with loud yawns and tired shrieks. His Starly was probably the loudest, not being used to wake up this early even when it was wild. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that we always train early in the morning, didn´t I," Ash mused aloud as he gazed on Starly. Starly, on the other hand, didn´t pay attention as he was gazing upon Pidgeot, completely starstruck. That actually made Ash chortle, "Yeah she´s magnificent isn´t she?" Ash stroked Pidgeot´s plumage, eliciting a pleased coo from the large bird.

"Alright everyone, my plan is to work on physical condition this morning," Ash ordered, "So I want laps around the clearing, top speed." All his older Pokémon nodded and got started immediately, but Starly seemed to not fully understand. "Starly, how about you just try to follow Pidgeot? Don´t think too much of it if you can´t match her speed though, she is my fastest flyer." Starly nodded and took to the air to follow on Pidgeot´s tailfeathers. As his Pokémon ran their laps, Ash got down to his own physical training by doing sit-ups, push-ups, and burpees.

After about half an hour a slight chill entered the air, as a breeze brought with it the cold of the ocean air. The sun had started to come up, a few rays of sunlight striking through the forest here and there. "Alright everybody, let´s focus on…" a roar of pain seemed to cut Ash off. "What was that?" Ash´s attention was immediately drawn. "Pid-pid-Pidgeot?" Pidgeot seemed to ask, waiting for an answer before reacting in any way. "Yeah, go check it out. But be careful not to get hurt yourself, we´re right behind you," Ash commanded and returned the other Pokémon. With a mighty beat of her wings, Pidgeot had disappeared over the trees in the direction the roar had come from.

It took not 2 minutes to sprint over to where the sounds where coming from, which instantly cleared why the sound originated in the first place. On the ground where two Luxray, and an oddly colored Luxio. The Luxio seemed to be trapped in a membrane of an incredibly strong stone-like alloy, as was one of the Luxray. The other Luxray seemed to be badly hurt and was the one roaring. Just a little way away floated a Salamence dangerously in the air, and a Drapion and a Houndoom stood under it ready to attack. "Two birds with one stone," a haughty, arrogant voice stated just before a beam of some sorts hit the other Luxray. Ash stared in horror as the Gleam Eyes Pokémon turned to the same stone in front of his eyes. "I know of a buyer for the Luxray, and the Luxio has to sell for a good amount," the same voice continued, seemingly conversing with someone.

Ash gazed around quickly, spotting the grey-cloaked person on the Salamence´s back. -Hunter J!, he thought to himself horrified, recognizing the infamous Pokémon Hunter from her bounty posters. Before he could fully react three platforms floated down and captured the stony Pokémon. "Hunter J!" Ash exclaimed and walked onto the mountainside where the three Pokémon had just been. To his right, he could see that the drop was deadly if he were to fall, and the three Pokémon looked threateningly towards him.

"Oh, a child? And here I thought I´d be able to do this undiscovered," J spoke, the same arrogant tone still prevalent in her voice. "I won´t allow you to get away with this!" Ash hollered, pulling out two more Pokéballs. "And how do you think to stop me?" she asked, sounding amused. "Pidgeot, Quilava, and Croconaw let´s go!" was the only answer she got as Ash´s Pokémon appeared one from the air and two from their Pokéballs.

"You really intend to fight me? How dumb as the new generation become?" J spoke condescendingly. "Croconaw use Hydro Pump, Quilava use Flamethrower!" Ash ordered before he gazed upon his Pidgeot. "Can I trust you against her Salamence on your own?" Pidgeot nodded and set off at a blistering speed, slamming into the underside of J´s Salamence with an Aerial Ace before it had even realized it was under attack. The sudden rocking off her Salamence sent J crashing into the ground underneath it, knocking her vizor off her face. Steel blue piercing eyes glared towards Ash, as she furiously commanded, "Houndoom use Dark Pulse, Drapion Cross Poison!"

Over the valley to their left Salamence and Pidgeot was engaged in a devastating aerial battle, exchanging attacks with a reckless abandon. In front of Ash, an explosion ensued as the four attacks crashed into each other, forcing Ash to adjust his footing to not be blown away. "Croconaw use Aqua Jet! Quilava provide support with Flamethrower!" The combination attack sent Croconaw crashing into Houndoom, the accompanying flames bathing Drapion and Houndoom both. "Now use Ice Fang! Quilava get in there with Flame Wheel!"

Unfortunately, J seemed to recover her bearings at this moment, "Drapion use Pin Missile!" The attack slammed into Croconaw, sending him into the mountainside. Though the not very effective attack didn´t as much as slow Quilava down, and the Flame Wheel hit Drapion with a resounding thud.

As Croconaw got up and simply brushed the damage off as inconvenient but not threatening, J seemed to realize she didn´t want to continue this fight. "Salamence end that, we need to get out of here!" Her Salamence really did try to end it, but Pidgeot was simply too agile in the air for it to land a decisive hit. J gritted her teeth before she glanced shortly towards Ash and an evil smirk spread across her face. "Drapion use Pin Missile!" she ordered and gestured towards Ash. Ash´s eyes widened, but otherwise, he didn´t get to react before the attack slammed into the ground just to his left. The explosion sent Ash tumbling off the cliff, drawing the attention of all his Pokémon. "I´ll just grab you two and go then!" J boasted and aimed her gadget to Croconaw. She never got to shoot though, as Quilava noticed and fired a Flamethrower at her, which destroyed the gadget and lightly burnt her arm and hand. J clicked her tongue but withdrew her Drapion and Houndoom before she got onto Salamence and fled.

Pidgeot had abandoned the fight as soon as Ash had started falling down, opting to save her trainer instead. Ash had hit the mountainside several times, causing a few bruises and cuts to appear. As Pidgeot managed to catch him, he breathed a sigh of relief and simply clutched Pidgeot´s neck as she ascended the mountain to put him down. Ash glared after the retreating J, a few growls escaping his throat. Furiously he dialed Lance´s number. Lance picked up nearly instantly, a huge smile on his face as the video started until he saw Ash. "What happened!?" he shouted, the volume so high that Ash heard someone crash into the ground from the sheer surprise behind the champion. "Met Hunter J, I´m just a few kilometers out from Sandgem. Can I count on you to tell the Sinnoh Champion?" Ash gritted out, the bruise on his ribs making it hard for him to breathe. Lance´s face showed fierce determination as he nodded and hung up.

"Pidgeot, get me back to the Pokécenter," Ash asked as he returned Croconaw and Quilava. Pikachu looked worried as he jumped onto Pidgeot´s shoulders, not risking hurting Ash more by sitting on his. People at the Pokécenter were still asleep, which suited Ash fine. All but one of them, and it was someone Ash knew. "What did you get yourself into this time!?" the familiar voice whisper-shouted as he ran over to help Ash off Pidgeot. "Brock? What are you doing here?" "I wanted to see what Pokémon I could study up here, but enough about me for now. Let´s get you inside, and get a look at those injuries," Brock answered, carefully helping Ash inside and up to his room. As they got Ash´s tank top off the badly bruised rib area to become visible, causing Brock to flinch.

The entire area was blue and black, and some of it was scraped open and bleeding. The tank top had been ruined, Brock simply discarding it. "Are any of my ribs broken, do you reckon?" Ash asked, wincing as Brock carefully applied water to clean the wounds out. "No, they don´t seem to be broken or even that badly bruised," Brock stated, "Just the area around." "Help me bandage it up?" Ash asked. Brock smiled at him, "As always, Ash, as always." Throughout their journeys together Brock had picked up on a lot of first aid and field medical procedures, mostly because he always had to bandage Ash up after one incident or the other. Ten minutes later, Ash was bandaged up and carefully moving around. "Would you get my spare top in my backpack?" Said tank top landed on his hand not a minute later, and he managed to get it on himself without moving too much. "No one gets to know this, alright?" Ash said to Brock, it sounded nearly like a command but to Brock, it was pleading not to tell Delia. "Yeah, alright I get it. But I´m coming with you so I can rest easy knowing you won´t overdo it!"

Ash nodded easily, a smile on his lips. Traveling with Brock had always been fun before, why shouldn´t it now? "We need to get out to the cliff," Ash stated. That took Brock back, "Why?" "The two Luxray were obviously mates, and I think the Luxio was their child. What if they had other pups there? What if they had infants so small they can´t survive without their parents? I failed in stopping J from taking their parents, I won´t leave them. I can´t," Ash had tears in his eyes as he finished the statement. Brock nodded, having heard the story while he was bandaging Ash, "Alright, let´s go out there to check. You know it wasn´t your fault right, Ash?" "I know, but that doesn´t make me feel much better," Ash stated as he limped out of the room, followed by Brock.

As Ash had to be much more careful moving right now, the two spent nearly 40 minutes walking out to the cliff. Time which they spent to catch up with each other, sharing how the last three and a half months had been for them. "Ok, so this is where I saw J take the Luxrays and Luxio. I assume their den is nearby," Ash stated when they finally arrived at the cliff. "Shi-Shinx?" they heard a quiet cry. Stumbling slightly a small Shinx came carefully out of the bushes and stared wide-eyed at the pair of trainers. Ash crouched down, "Hey there little guy. I guess you belong to the Luxrays that were taken from here?" The small Shinx nodded carefully, never taking its eyes off Ash. "I´m sorry that I couldn´t help them," Ash continued, "I came back to see if there were any of you that need help? Are you the only one left here?" The Shinx nodded again, all of its siblings had already left the den except it and its older brother.

"Do you want to come with me? Maybe we can help your parents down the line?" Ash asked, careful not to make any threatening moves. The Shinx tilted its head to the side and walked carefully, and always prepared to bolt, over to Ash and let him pet its head. "Shinx!" it cried and smiled up at Ash, signifying that it would come with him. Ash smiled down and lightly tapped a Pokéball to the Shinx´s head, capturing the young Pokémon. "We should probably head back to the Pokécenter, Ash. They might get worried about you," Brock informed him. Ash looked up at him and nodded, rising up to his full height. "Shinx come on out," Ash spoke softly. The young, and apparently hyper-active, Shinx let out a squeal and started running around Ash´s feet in joy, something it kept on doing until they entered the Pokécenter later on.

Dawn was sitting there seemingly in deep thought, and a multitude of trainers was watching a TV-screen in the back of the lobby. "What´s going on?" Ash asked, trying to sound jovial. Dawn looked up instantly and smiled widely as Ash walked over to her, and sat down on the bench beside her. "It´s Hunter J. She was spotted not far from here Ash, and they think someone battled her." "Really?" Ash asked, not knowing how anyone could come to that conclusion unless Lance told them. "Yeah, there was a camera crew shooting a documentary in a valley not far from here. They filmed Hunter J capture some Pokémon when she was confronted all of a sudden. The only thing that´s certain is that the trainer that fought Hunter J didn´t manage to save the Pokémon and that he or she has a really powerful Pidgeot." "A Pidgeot in Sinnoh?" Brock asked lightly, sounding as if the idea was farfetched. "Yeah, so they guessed it´s an experienced trainer from another region, but they have no identification."

Suddenly the TV-screen blared up, the news coming on. "This is just in," the reporter started with. "Earlier today, not far from Sandgem, Hunter J was confronted and battled as she continued her wicked ways. We have confirmation from our beloved Champion that the trainer in question is from Kanto and apparently a close friend to Lance Wataru, the Kanto Champion, as he informed the Sinnoh League of the confrontation minutes after it ended. We have no other information as of this moment." The special edition of the news ended on that note, and discussion burst up in the crowd. Dawn sighed and shook her head, "I doubt they´ll ever find the person who fought J." "Why do you think so?" Ash asked cautiously. "Because it doesn´t look like the person in question wants to be found," Dawn answered with a shrug. -You got that right if mum finds out I´m dead, Ash thought to himself.

Dawn finally seemed to realize that Ash hadn´t come back on his own, "Oh, I don´t think I´ve been introduced to your friend Ash." Ash looked up and laughed slightly, "No, I guess you haven't. Dawn this is Brock, one of my best friends and a former traveling companion of mine. Brock this is Dawn, I promised her I´d help her get started," Ash introduced the two.

Brock smiled at the younger girl, before stating humorously, "I´ll be tagging along with you actually, this one," he pointed to Ash, "has a history of getting into situations he shouldn´t." "You do realize you´re usually a part of that, too right?" Ash countered indignantly. "Yes, I´m usually a part of it. You´re usually the _cause_ of it," Brock returned, effectively ending the argument. Dawn giggled at the playful banter between the two before she realized that Pikachu wasn´t the only Pokémon that was free of its Pokéball. "Oh, is that a Shinx? I was so preoccupied I didn´t realize!" she exclaimed and eagerly started to pet the new Pokémon, which to Ash´s shock seemed perfectly fine with it. -Weird, I´d have thought Shinx would be a bit more reserved when it came to humans, Ash thought to himself.

"What do you think about the news report?" Dawn asked, gazing curiously at the two experienced trainers. "I know a few Kanto trainers that fit the description, but I…I don´t think any of them are in Sinnoh at the moment," Ash stated, a bit hesitant in lying to his new travel companion. "Should we get some food and get back on the road? I know you at least hate staying put for too long, Ash," Brock asked, changing the topic completely. "Yeah, some food would probably be good right about now. Have you eaten Dawn?" Ash asked as he got up and followed Brock over to the kitchen area. "No, I haven´t. I was waiting for you, and then I got distracted by the news," she answered, skipping after the two.

The breakfast was a quiet affair, the news having subdued many of the more exuberant trainers. About half an hour later the three companions were leaving the Pokécenter to continue on their journey, having said goodbye to Nando a little earlier. As they walked it was mostly Brock and Ash conversing, with Dawn listening. "So how many Pokémon have you captured so far, Dawn?" Brock asked after a while. "Eh, none. I´ve tried a couple of times, but I haven´t had any success yet," Dawn answered, a slightly disappointed pout on her face. Ash looked at her and tried to reassure her, "It´s alright, you just have to try again. If you never give up or lose sight of what you want you will succeed in the end."

A harsh gust of wind slammed into the trio as they walked, ruffling Ash´s slightly longer than normal hair as he no longer wore a hat. The tree branches around them creaked lightly in the powerful wind, and more than a few whistles of wind assaulted their ears. "Talking about Pokémon, which of yours did you bring Brock?" Ash asked his long-time friend. "Crobat, Graveler, Bonsly and Steelix," Brock answered easily. "The plan was traveling alone, I felt I needed a little power behind me," he shrugged. Dawn seemed to be somewhat confused by that, "What do you mean?"

Ash cut in, "Dawn, traveling like this isn´t the safest. That´s actually a reason many newbies team up at the start, most trainers travel in pairs or groups for the first few months at least." Then he turned to Brock, "You evolved both Geodude and Onix?" "I only planned on evolving Onix," Brock answered, "Geodude evolved in the final battle I had as a Gym Leader before Forest took over." "I´m not surprised, Geodude took way longer than should have been necessary," Ash stated casually. Brock shrugged but seemed to agree. "So, who did you bring?"

The question lingered unanswered in the air until Ash smiled cheekily towards his old friend. "You´ll see." With that he picked up his pace, forcing the others to do the same. Dawn hurried after the raven-haired young man, leaving Brock behind to smirk wildly at Ash´s purposely mysterious answer.

A couple of days later the group stopped suddenly, as something collided with Ash´s stomach. The green and brown blur snatched Ash´s backpack and darted off before anyone could see what Pokémon it was. With a slight groan, Ash got up, rubbing his abs absentmindedly for a second. "Oh, dearie me," an older voice spoke out. "What has Turtwig gone and done now?" She seemed disappointed, but what she said caught Ash attention immediately. "That was a Turtwig, one of the Sinnoh starters?" The old lady looked at him, she seemed a little puzzled by something. "You´re not mad? Far as I saw he Headbutted you and ran off with your backpack," she stated with wonder in her voice. "One of my most powerful Pokémon greets me by firing a Flamethrower at me…A Headbutt is nothing," Ash shrugged it off as nothing.

The older lady looked taken aback at the young man in front of her, "If that´s how you feel maybe you´re the trainer Turtwig has been waiting for." Seeing that she had captured their attention completely she continued, "Turtwig wants to be strong, and has been searching for a trainer for some time. But the only human he trusts so far has been me, any trainer that has tried to capture him have failed. Maybe…maybe he´ll accept you," the old lady finished hopefully.

Ash seemed to have a fire in his eyes that hadn´t been there a moment ago, "So he is a wild Pokémon?" The old lady nodded, "Though he does come by to eat with me often enough." A broad grin stretched across Ash´s face, and Brock groaned. "Well, make yourself comfortable Dawn, we aren´t leaving here before Ash has convinced Turtwig to come with him." Dawn smiled easily, and shrugged, "We got time. The contest in Jubilife isn´t for another week or so…I don´t mind." "Alright Pikachu, find Turtwig," Ash commanded and within moments both he and Pikachu had disappeared into the forest after the Turtwig. "Is there anything we should know about?" Brock asked calmly, seeing the slightly concerned look on the old lady´s face.

She seemed perturbed, and finally sighed and answered, "There are rumors going around that there´s a Pokémon Hunter in the area. Unconfirmed of course, but I still can´t help but worry." Brock laughed sardonically, before seriously stating, "Well if there is a Pokémon Hunter close by we´ll inform you later. With Ash´s track record we´re bound to run into him if he´s here." With that he followed Ash´s path into the woods in a lazy stroll, whistling as he went. Dawn stared after him before she turned to the old lady. "Thank you for the warning," she bowed quickly to and followed hurriedly after Brock.

In the forest Ash and Pikachu had hit a snag, finding his backpack but not a trace of Turtwig. "This is weird, isn´t it Pikachu?" "Pi-pikapi," Pikachu answered with a nod, a serious expression on its face. Ash picked up the backpack, throwing it onto his back. "Do you smell any other humans nearby?" Ash asked seriously, his mind already having an idea of what had happened. Pikachu stood up, stretching into the air, and sniffed deeply a couple of times. "Pi-pikapi-chu-pika!" Pikachu answered some would call it frantically.

It pointed in one direction, which Ash immediately headed in a sprint. Brock and Dawn happened to catch up just enough to see Ash´s back sprint into the forest, his backpack in place. Brock sighed, "And Ash´s luck strikes again." He grabbed Dawn´s hand and ran after Ash as fast as he could, dragging Dawn with him.

The clearing Ash entered only a few minutes later, had definitely seen better days. There were scorch marks everywhere and small trenches he recognized as having come from Razor Leaf attacks. In the middle of the clearing Turtwig was staring down a giant Mightyena, its jaw flaming with a vicious Fire Fang attack. Behind the Mightyena stood a tall man with a wicked look to him. The man was dressed in all black, with a long dark leather trench coat and hard combat boots. At his side were a nasty whip and several knives. His most defining feature, however, was a large jagged a scar going from the top of his nose to his chin, barely missing the outer side of his eye. The scar let Ash know who he was immediately, Ace Carvon one of the most wanted Pokémon Hunters in Sinnoh.

"Alright Mightyena, let´s wrap this up!" Ace commanded. "Stop that attack with Thunder!" The massive lightning bolt slammed into Mightyena, sending it crashing into the ground and drawing Ace´s attention away from Turtwig. "Who do you think you are, punk!?" Ace snarled menacingly, not affecting Ash in the slightest. "Are you alright, Turtwig?" Ash asked, completely ignoring the fuming Pokémon Hunter, though without letting his guard down. "Mightyena use Dark Pulse!" Ace screamed, gesturing wildly towards Ash.

The attack raced through the air towards Ash, though curiously neither he nor Pikachu raised a finger to stop it. "Crobat use Sludge Bomb!" The two attacks clashed with each other, causing a violent explosion to occur mere meters in front of Ash. Who to the great shock of everyone present stood there and let the incredible pressure crash into him without making a single grimace. "Give me a hand here, Brock? We´re taking him in," Ash stated seriously, a rare thing Brock thought considering Ash was normally a jovial young man. "You got it. Dawn stay behind us and stay out of this," Brock ordered the younger girl, whose hand had been creeping closer to her own Pokéball.

"But…I can help!" Dawn exclaimed, shocked that they wanted her to stay out of it. She stared incredulously at Brock, nearly missing the serious response from Ash. "No Dawn, you can´t. This isn´t a regular battle," Ash stated, glaring at Ace, "He´s a criminal, who won´t hesitate to seriously injure your Pokémon. You are a long way from ready to battle against someone like him." The cold tone of Ash´s voice made the decision clear for Dawn, and she silently retreats to behind the two young men.

"Two on one, huh? I guess I´ll even the playing field a little. Come on out, Honchkrow!" he commanded, the large Flying-type screeched threateningly as it appeared. "I´ll take care of Honchkrow, you deal with Mightyena," Ash stated easily, dropping his hand to his belt. "So, let´s see what pitiful excuse of a Pokémon you´re going to use against me!" Ace taunted, believing Ash to be a rookie trainer. "Pidgeot let´s go!" Ash exclaimed, releasing the majestic bird against a Pokémon Hunter for the second time inside a week.

-Why is it that I always manage to get into situations like these, Ash thought morosely to himself. "A Pidgeot!?" Ace shouted in disbelief, accompanied by Dawn. "Wait? A Pidgeot…you…!" "Not now!" Ash cut her off, his attention fully on the battle in front of him. "Don´t overdo it, Ash, you´re still injured," Brock whispered to him, careful not to let Ace know that. Ash nodded slightly, "Pidgeot use Aerial Ace!"

A second later all that was visible of Pidgeot was three streaks in the air, two red and one yellow. "Honchkrow use Double Team! Mightyena let´s go with Thunder Fang!" Ace commanded, now visibly more alarmed. The Honchkrow illusions burst nearly as soon as they were up, the incredibly powerful Flying-type attack slamming into the original in the span of seconds. "Great, Pidgeot. Now knock it out of the sky with Wing Attack and fire Hyper Beam!"

On his side, Brock was preoccupied with his battle with Mightyena, "Crobat dodge that attack, and use Poison Fang!" The four-winged bat blurred to the side, out of the way of the powerful jaws of its adversary. It sunk its fangs into the large Dark-type´s flank, settling deep. "Great work, now use…" his order was drowned in Ace´s screamed command, "Mightyena use Iron Tail to shake it off and fire Dark Pulse! Honchkrow use Steel Wing to counter that Wing attack!"

While Mightyena successfully managed to slam Crobat away from its side, and immediately hit it with a powerful Dark Pulse, Honchkrow was not as successful. Pidgeot proved much too powerful to be blocked or countered and sent Honchkrow careening into the ground. A mere moment later the orange shine of a Hyper Beam lit the clearing up, as it soared towards the Honchkrow.

"Crobat use Aerial Ace, into Steel Wing!" Brock ordered as Mightyena´s attention was drawn by the giant explosion that occurred when the Hyper Beam connected with its target. Within seconds the two attacks had connected and knocked the weakened Dark-type to the ground, where it laid whimpering.

"What?" the whispered exclamation might as well have been roaring with how it carried over the clearing. "Bayleef let´s go! Use Vine Whip to keep him trapped!" Ash commanded, his voice still uncharacteristically serious. The unfortunate Pokémon Hunter had no time to react as two strong vines wrapped around him and lifted him off the ground. Ash stalked over to pick up the two downed Pokémon´s Pokéballs and returned them, before recalling Pidgeot. "Brock, watch him while I call Officer Jenny, would you?" Ash asked, his voice slowly starting to return to its normal self if a bit sad.

Brock nodded silently, and Ash slipped away to make the phone call. When Dawn tried to follow him, Brock grabbed her shoulder. "Leave him be, he needs to calm down," he stated calmly, but his tone left no room for argument. "Why didn´t you tell me?" Dawn asked him seriously. "Tell you what? That Ash fought against Hunter J and couldn´t stop her? What exactly would that have accomplished?" Brock asked her, his voice even. Dawn huffed and started pacing in front of Brock, "Well at least I´d know how good a trainer Ash really is! Hunter J has gotten away from several of the Gym Leaders in Sinnoh, and Ash obviously put up a great fight!" Her voice had risen, and there were a few tears forming in the crooks of her eyes.

Brock looked at her with a steady gaze, "How much do you know about Ash?" The question had been asked easily, calmly, but the meaning was loaded. Dawn stared back at the tanned young man before she tried to answer. "Well, I know he´s been traveling for six years and been through a couple of regions. And that he beat the Kanto Battle Frontier," she summarized. "Then you already know more than most," Brock cut in, "Ash is friendly, but he is also quite private and humble about his achievements, Dawn." He shrugged and ruffled his own hair slightly with one hand.

"Put it this way, Dawn. If Ash were to take only his six strongest into a battle, he could rival a member of the Elite Four. Maybe even a Champion," Brock stated. Dawn nodded slowly, obviously stunned at the high praise Brock gave Ash. Then she remembered that she had actually seen one of his battles, "Oh right! I saw Ash and Pikachu beat a Regice, that´s a legendary right?" Brock´s eyebrows shot into his hairline, "You´re lucky then. Not many get to see Ash´s battles, well unless they´re league battles I guess."

"You building me up further than I should be again, Brock?" Ash asked teasingly as he came walking out of the forest again. "Never. I only give you the praise I believe you´re due," Brock countered with a huge grin. "Office Jenny will be here shortly to take him in," Ash changed the subject. Around them, the wind had quieted down, and a few Pokémon were curiously looking at the group from the forest. "Wig-tur-turtwig!"

Turtwig stood in front of Ash, smiling up at him. "How are you doing, Turtwig?" Ash asked as he crouched down to check on the Grass-type. Only to find that Turtwig had a fondness for using Bite, as evidenced by the fact Turtwig hung onto Ash´s arm. "You like playing huh?" Ash joked, carefully prying Turtwig off him. "Say, how´d you like to accompany me?" he asked before reached down to Turtwig again. Turtwig nodded happily and bit down on Ash´s hand once again. Ash calmly pulled a Pokéball from his belt, lightly tapping it on Turtwig´s head to capture it.

After the Pokéball dinged, signifying a successful capture, the group sat silently basking in the sunlight for an hour, waiting for Officer Jenny to show up. "Hello down there! Are you the ones who called in that Ace Carvon was in the area?!" they heard a voice shout from overhead. Looking up they saw three Staraptors carefully descending towards the ground, all with a police officer mounted on them. "Yeah, he´s just over here. Bayleef!" Ash shouted, causing the affectionate sauropod to hastily make her way over to him. Completely tangled in her vines was the infuriated Ace Carvon, who was spitting hateful comments towards the three trainers.

"Well would you look at that!" the lead police officer stated a huge grizzled man with a neatly trimmed goatee. "Bayleef let him down," Ash gestured to his Pokémon. The exchange went smoothly, and a minute later the police officers were just shadows on the horizon. "Well, let´s continue onward shall we?" Ash stated as calm as can be and started walking.

Dawn blinked a couple of times, turning to Brock. "Does he ever stop?" Brock laughed heartily, as the two started strolling after the raven-haired trainer. "If he ever has, I wasn´t there," he stated, a large smirk on his face.

 **A/N:**

 **Well, this was an interesting chapter to write. I had planned to end this chapter when they arrived at Jubilife, but I ended up writing a ton of stuff that happened before that. I think the next chapter will be the arrival in Jubilife, and maybe part of the contest.**

 **Yes, I do realize that having Ash find and battle** **two** **Pokémon Hunters in one chapter might be a bit overkill. However, I did state that Sinnoh had a serious problem with Pokémon Hunters, and with Ash´s luck? You´re lucky there weren´t more.**

 **Now as I have previously stated I would like suggestions as to which Pokémon, non-canon, that Ash should capture. I´ll just stipulate two things here:**

 **I won´t be giving Ash duplicates, even if they have branched evolutions.**

 **I won´t be giving him too many new Pokémon.**

 **On a related matter suggesting pseudo-legendaries isn´t worth your effort. Following canon, he will get one, and he has one non-canon already. There is a third I** **might** **give him, but I´m not sure. So, don´t suggest pseudo-legendaries, they aren´t viable options here.**

 **Other than that, I don´t think I have any more to say. Though I do hope you enjoyed the chapter.**

 **Till next time!**


	9. Welcome to Jubilife!

**A/N:**

 **Welcome back, people. I have to say writing this is getting fun, and it´s even more fun to read some of the reviews here. To answer the new ones:**

 **Star1X** **: Who said he hasn´t, but then again who says he hasn´t tried to capture her himself? If you don´t remember Lance leads the Pokémon G-Men and is actively involved with stopping things like this in other regions. He was there in Hoenn fighting Kyogre and Groudon, remember? Also, how was Cynthia supposed to let the others know where Hunter J was without telling them where the information came from? She didn´t reveal who it was, even though she probably knows already.  
**

 **Stickru** **: That is actually very possible, of course, you are right with your statement, but that doesn´t mean much. I also got several different ideas that might allow me to give him that Pokémon.  
**

 **Afulton1603** **: It is possible but I highly doubt it. Even then there are others who have a higher probability of getting it than Ash, though the chances are still low.**

 **Buterflypuss** **: The first one is possible, not certain but possible, the second one not so much. He already has a lot of birds/Flying-types, and I´m not certain about giving him another. I do take non-canon suggestions for Brock and Dawn too, though I´d prefer if Brock´s stay within the Ground-, Steel- and Rock-type trifecta, as those were supposed to be his specialty. That said the first one for Brock is possible, I doubt the second one. As for Dawn, they are all possible, but only the second one is probable even if it will come late into the fanfiction.**

 **Blazeknight26** **: One of your suggestions is also a previous suggestion, which I´m trying to find a way to incorporate. Another one of your suggestions I have an idea of how to incorporate and was already planning to. A third is a possibility, if unlikely, that I had not considered. The remaining are probably not going to happen, I´ll let you figure out which is which on your own.  
**

 **I don´t think there was anything else then, so let´s get going.**

 **But first:** **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products, this is entirely for fun without any profit whatsoever.** **Well, except for the writing exercise, but no monetary gains.  
**

 **Let´s move on before I start to ramble.**

 **On to the Chapter!**

 **Welcome to Jubilife!**

"Alright, everybody let´s finish this up by taking a few rounds of jogging around the campsite," Ash stated calmly and started jogging side-by-side with his Pokémon. That was the scene Dawn woke up to the morning after Ash and Brock had defeated Ace, and allowed the police to take him in. Checking her wristwatch to see what time it is, she saw startled to see it wasn´t even 7 in the morning yet. Carefully crawling out of her tent, she came face to face with Brock who sat outside sipping on a cup of hot tea. "Morning, Dawn," he calmly stated as he saw the young girl joining him. "Good morning," she answered a little hesitantly before she let her eyes roam over the campsite. "How is Ash already up and training?" Dawn asked, yawning loudly.

Brock snorted, "He wants time in the day for training, but our previous traveling partners have always been a little too impatient to allow that. So, he decided that if he can´t do it with them present, he´ll do it before they got up. He´s done it since we traveled through Johto." "You mean this is normal?" Dawn asked with risen eyebrows. "Yeah, that´s how he ended up battling Hunter J. Thinking about that…Ash, sit down and relax! Your ribs aren´t fully healed yet!" he roared over to Ash who promptly ended his jog and carefully made his way over to the two others. He rubbed the back of his head nervously as he sat down, "Sorry about that. I guess I do tend to overdo it."

Brock looked at him, before he sighed, "I know that, Ash. That´s why I´m here, watching you." He reached down to fetch a water bottle, which he handed over to Ash. "Thanks," Ash stated as he took the bottle, and downed a rather large gulp of water. "We should probably get our stuff together, and get ready to leave," Brock suggested, handing Dawn a small snack to start off the day. "We´ll stop in an hour and two to eat a proper breakfast," he continued at seeing her perplexed look.

Dawn nodded her head, sitting in the shimmering morning sun with a slight smile on her face. Packing down the campsite took barely 15 minutes, and then the group started their trek onward. "So how many of you´re Pokémon haven´t I met?" Dawn asked as they walked on, her curious gaze lingering a bit on Ash. "Most of them actually," Ash answered after a while, "I only brought six of them, so most of them are still at Professor Oak´s ranch."

"Really? Who´s your most powerful Pokémon?" Dawn asked, her curiosity apparently unsatisfied. Brock laughed, remembering the fiery spirit of Ash´s most powerful Pokémon. Ash chuckled somewhat himself, but answered only with a mysterious, "Let´s leave that a surprise." Dawn pouted but didn´t question further. From the bushes to their side a pair of wide brown eyes looked out on them, locking onto Pikachu who sat on Ash´s shoulder just like always.

As the group slowly trudged on Pikachu´s ears twitched slightly, hearing the light rustling in the grass behind them and the soft thuds that followed them. Even when they finally settled to eat almost two hours later the soft thuds followed them and stopped short of coming on top of them. By now Pikachu had truly understood that for some reason something was following them, carefully signaling Ash he was about to pounce into the bushes. Only to suddenly be jumped by an overly affectionate brown furred Pokémon. "What the …." Ash started before he recognized what happened. "Hey, that´s a Buneary!" Dawn exclaimed, excitedly pointing at the new arrival.

Ash stared at the bunny Pokémon, who was rubbing her cheeks against Pikachu´s electric sacs. "Huh, I guess it is," he finally managed to respond. "Do you mind if I catch it?" she asked, looking pleadingly at Ash. "Go ahead," Ash answered, "It will only be good for you to have a second Pokémon." It took some serious effort on Pikachu´s part to separate the two Pokémon, and when it did manage Buneary seemed very displeased. "Alright Piplup, let´s go!" Dawn ordered. Buneary seemed mildly annoyed at the intrusion, but not overly concerned.

Ash, Brock, and Pikachu retreated a small bit, over to the edge of the meadow. When Buneary made to follow Piplup was quick to cut it off, resulting in the Buneary narrowing its eyes. "Alright, Piplup let´s start off with Bubblebeam!" As Piplup´s cascade of bubbles soared toward the Buneary it didn´t stay idle but used Bounce to jump over the incoming attack. When it sprang toward Piplup, however, Dawn remembered some of Ash´s advice. "Dodge that, Piplup!" Piplup managed to dodge to the side of the Dizzy Punch and slid to a halt. "Now use Peck!" A slight breeze burst from where Piplup had been only a moment before, a testament to the speed Piplup generated.

The Flying-type move impacted into Buneary´s side, sending it tumbling backward. As the Buneary got up it seemed utterly perplexed as to what had just happened. As the wind around them blew, rustling through the grass and making the branches of the trees nearby creak. "Buneary!" the small rabbit Pokémon shouted as it sprang into the air. A small light blue orb appeared in front of its mouth before it suddenly shot forth at amazing speed.

It froze the area around Piplup´s feet, creating frost in the grass all around. "Ice Beam? That´s a pretty powerful move," Ash commented idly to Brock on the sidelines. "Piplup let´s go with Bubblebeam!" The bubbles hit solidly on the slightly dazed Buneary, forcing it backward. "Now let´s use Peck!" Dawn continued. As Piplup slammed into Buneary, Dawn reached into her bag and pulled out a Pokéball. "Alright let´s go Pokéball!" Dawn cheered as she flung the Pokéball toward Buneary. The ball connected, and as Buneary disappeared it had a somewhat thoughtful look on its face.

The ball rocked back and forth a couple of times, but ultimately it gave out a satisfying click, signifying a successful capture. "Alright!" Dawn cheered, almost dancing around as she held the Pokéball. "Well done, Dawn," Ash congratulated as the two experienced trainers made their way over to her. "I caught it, I actually caught it! Thank you, Piplup!" she gushed as she picked her starter up. "Alright come on out, Buneary," she continued, a bit calmer. Buneary appeared, looked a bit around and cocked her head to the side. "Oh, you´re so cute!" Dawn commented and patted her new Pokémon on the head. "I´m Dawn, and this is my partner Piplup. I hope you will work well with us." She smiled down, causing the new addition to her team to beam up at her.

Looking up she saw Ash staring into the sky, causing a confused expression to spread across her face. "We should get moving, it´s about to pour," Ash stated seriously and turned around. "Really, how can you tell?" Dawn asked as she returned her Pokémon and hurried after him. Brock followed the two just behind, purposely lagging a bit behind and keeping watch behind them. "It has a bit to do with the temperature drop, but mostly it´s a smell on the wind. It has this kind of salty metallic smell, and I don´t know exactly how to explain it," Ash answered her as they kept walking at a pretty hurried pace.

Hidden in the forest line just beyond the meadow they were just in, a figure seemed to be in its own thoughts. "So that´s the kid the boss wants us to be careful around, huh?" the figure mused to itself before it turned around and disappeared further into the forest. A few seconds later a heavy downpour roared into existence, drenching the meadow and the surrounding area.

As the downpour continued, the group found a small cavern to escape the rain. "That´s amazing," Dawn commented as they sat around a small campfire, making a light meal. Ash gazed out into the pouring rain, only slightly shrugging his shoulders in response. Dawn´s cheeks pinked a little, slightly embarrassed about gushing for no reason. Though perhaps it was more embarrassing that she got no noteworthy response. The back of the cave had a lot of room, enough that Dawn decided it might make a good spot for some dedicated training.

"Alright, Piplup and Buneary let´s go!" The two young Pokémon appeared in a flash of light, gazing curiously up at their trainer. "We need to get ready for the Jubilife Contest if I want to have a chance at all," Dawn explained as she crouched down to better speak to them. "So, what we have to figure out is how to make our moves as astounding as possible," Dawn spoke, "So any ideas?" At her question the two Pokémon adopted contemplative poses, trying to think of anything that might make their moves stand out. "Trying to hard to make it look good, might end up backfiring Dawn. If you find something that the Pokémon find fun it´s easier to show the beauty of it," Ash shot in from his position by the entrance of the cave.

"Thanks, Ash, that sounds like a good idea," Dawn gratefully replied before turning back to her Pokémon. "So, anything you find fun?" The question seemed to light up Buneary´s face, and she jumped a little away from Dawn. She then proceeded to fire her Ice Beam constantly for a few moments, creating an ice foundation of sorts. Ending her attack, she turned back to Dawn, and proudly showed the creation. Dawn blinked a few times, trying to find out what the creation was. "It´s incredible that you can make stuff like this, we can definitely use that. What is it though?"

Buneary cocked her head to the side adorably, before she jumped on top of the creation. As she beautifully slid around the creation specks of ice and frost got sent up into the air, creating a sort of snowfall that reflected the lights hitting it. "That´s amazing, Buneary! We can definitely use this!" Dawn stated with a huge smile plastered on her face. Ash smiled even though his focus remained on the outside, occasionally looking over at Brock who was making food. Out of nowhere a small Pokémon waddled into their temporary camp and sat down next to Brock in front of the fire. "A Croagunk?" Brock stated, looking down at the Pokémon at his side. "Croa," the new arrival let out.

"You hungry?" Brock asked as he rummaged in his backpack for the Pokémon food. Croagunk slowly, almost lazily, nodded and gratefully accepted the bowl of Pokémon food when Brock handed it over. Over with Dawn, the young coordinator-to-be was slowly making progress with showcasing the beauty of Piplup´s attacks. "Alright, so far we have the bubble dance and the idea of multicolored bubbles," Dawn laid out, carefully thinking while she did. "Alright let´s eat," Brock stated, drawing everyone´s attention.

Sitting around the table the group exchanged ideas and plans for what to do next, including a few creative contest moves for Dawn. "I might actually take a stab at this contest myself," Ash stated suddenly, as the group was packing up to continue. "What!?" Dawn exclaimed, a horrified expression on her face. "Just for fun Dawn, besides it´s been a while since I tried a contest. Aipom will love it for sure, she is more for contest than battle anyway." Brock nodded, "I think it´s a good idea. Use Aipom for a contest and a Gym battle and let her decide which she wants to do."

Quickly starting their trek, the group laid behind them a lot of distance. Enough so that Brock estimated they would arrive at Jubilife in the evening the following day, which would give them three days until the Jubilife Contest. That evening, as the sun started to set, Ash was gazing upon the marvelous sight deep in thought. "What are you thinking about?" Dawn asked quietly as she sat down beside him. "This and that," he answered, "Mostly about my journey, but a little about which Pokémon to use in the appeal stage of the contest." "Yeah, I guess you´d have a harder time at that than me. I´m using Buneary for the appeal, and Piplup for the battle stage," Dawn commented. "If it hadn´t been for my bout with Hunter J I would probably use Pidgeot for the appeal, but I don´t want to be recognized as that trainer yet. Maybe… Yeah, I can do that!" Ash ended up happily exclaiming, a smile on his face.

"Well, we should probably go to sleep," Dawn mentioned lightly, a slight blush on her cheeks as she gazed at Ash´s happily smiling face. "Yeah, I guess you´re right." Quietly the two climbed into their tents, as the sun set completely over the horizon.

As morning came, Dawn woke up to the sounds of Ash finishing his morning training, and the smell of Brock having started breakfast. As she got out of her tent she looked over to Ash, a smile on her face. Taken her a bit by surprise was the fact that now there was a new Pokémon with Ash as well, in addition to the ones he had brought with him and caught in Sinnoh. A dark blue bird with a white plumage and red patterns in its feathers flew alongside Ash´s Pidgeot and Starly. Curiously she scanned the new Pokémon with her Pokédex, which rattled out the information in its metallic voice. "Swellow the Swallow Pokémon, and the evolved form of Taillow. Swellow flies gracefully above our heads, only to steeply dive as soon as they spot their prey. When two Swellow meets, they meticulously clean each other´s feathers."

A tad bit curious she walked over to Brock to ask him, carefully sitting down beside the fire before she did so. "Who is the new Pokémon training with Ash?" she asked as she sat down, causing Brock to raise an eyebrow. "I saw you scan it, so maybe the question is meant to be is that Ash´s Swellow?" Brock humorously corrected, before answering, "But yeah that is Ash´s Swellow, he had him sent over just a bit earlier." "How? I thought you needed a transporter to do that?" Dawn asked curiously, again glancing over at Ash and his Pokémon. "Ash has an X-Transceiver, with a portable transporter," Brock explained.

"Alright, Swellow let´s see how fast you are with a Quick Attack!" Ash yelled. With a considerable flap of his wings Swellow picked up speed for the attack, darting across the field. "Good! Now let´s see you match Pidgeot in Aerial Ace!" The two birds aimed in at each other and sped towards one another enveloped in the energy of the Aerial Ace, meeting in the middle in a massive burst of wind. The following ten minutes went by with Ash going through attack after attack with his Swellow, only stopping when Brock finally informed them that the breakfast was ready.

"Phew, that was a good workout," Ash stated as he sat down, wiping the sweat of his brow in the process. "Good morning, Dawn," he continued as he sat down and grabbed a bowl of food. "Is that what you meant last night? That you could substitute using Pidgeot with Swellow?" Dawn asked curiously. Ash swallowed the bites of food he had already bit into, and answered, "Well, yeah. Pidgeot is majestic and probably my fastest Pokémon, but Swellow is a lot better at acrobatic maneuvers." The explanation made sense when Dawn thought about it, which perhaps made her more nervous for the upcoming contest.

"We should probably get going," Ash casually stated nearly half an hour later, as the breakfast had been eaten in relative silence. As the group cleaned up after themselves and packed the campsite a sudden roar was heard over the forest, spurring the group into instantaneous action. A few minutes later they ran into a clearing to find that the roar had been a result of a Pokémon battle. "Great work Carnivine!" James exclaimed as the large Poliwrath his opponent used fell on its back. "Oh James, Jessie!" Ash shouted as he ran over to the former Team Rocket trio. "Oh? Look who´s here, James," Jessie casually spoke, mirth evident in her voice.

"What´s going on?" Brock asked as he casually strolled over to them, not a care in the world. "Oh, the older twerp is back too," James commented easily, a slight smile on his face. James and Jessie looked completely different to how they used to look, though Meowth still looked the same. Jessie still had her hair the same way, but her clothes were completely different. She wore a black skirt that reached her to her knees, with a pair of sneakers that were white with red details. She wore a professional looking red blazer coupled with a black singlet, a rather large black leather bag hanging from her shoulder.

James meanwhile had changed his usually shaggy hair to an entirely different hairstyle, having it slicked back. He wore baggy black pants, with a pair of black sneakers and a white tank top. Around his waist he had tied a black jacket, hanging loosely under a grey backpack. Both of the former Team Rocket members openly displayed their wedding bands on their left ring fingers, the gold glinting mesmerizingly in the sunlight. "You don´t seem to be worried at all," Meowth commented on Brock´s laid-back posture. "I´m not, Ash explained the circumstances to me," Brock answered, rubbing Meowth´s head eliciting a purr from the cat Pokémon. "I must say I´m surprised to see you again so soon, not to mention how different you look now as opposed to on the ship," Ash stated, laughing lightly at Dawn´s thunderstruck expression as Meowth had just spoken.

"We stopped by in a smaller town on the way, bought some new clothes and I finally managed to get James to do something about his hair," Jessie explained, a bit exasperated when it came to the part with James´ hair. "I happened to enjoy not having to do anything with my hair, Jess," James cut in, chuckling lightly. "You still don´t! I fix your hair every morning," Jessie huffed. "So, this was just a friendly battle?" Ash asked, kind of curious how a roar like that came to be from a friendly spar.

James scowled at the other guy, "Not exactly." Meowth jumped up on his shoulder, standing slightly above the others from his new vantage point. "You see here, kid. Not everybody is as used to a talking Meowth as the two of you," he started to explain before Jessie cut him off slightly irritated. "The guy overheard Meowth talk and insisted, demanded actually, that we hand Meowth over to him," Jessie stated narrowing her eyes as she gazed over at the defeated trainer. Ash cringed slightly, "Yeah I can see how that didn´t go over well. So, you ended up battling for Meowth then?" The two nodded, slightly aggravated smiles on their faces.

"Is Meowth even your Pokémon?" Brock asked suddenly, "Your captured Pokémon I mean?" James blinked slowly, before he carefully answered, "No, I guess he actually isn´t. What do you say Meowth? Should Jess or I capture you so no one else can legally capture you?" "Yeah, sounds good," Meowth nodded. Suddenly Ash shot his hand forward, gripping the Pokéball that had been thrown at Meowth´s unsuspecting back. "You have no right to interfere!" the other trainer bellowed, angry veins visible in his face. "Oh, give it a rest, Meowth belongs with these two," Ash stated throwing the Pokéball back to the trainer.

Within a few moments, James had captured Meowth and let him out again to sit on his shoulder, a smile on his face. "Well, we have to go. I have an appointment in Jubilife in a few hours and Meowth have vouched to be in Jubilife by the end of the day," James stated easily, casually walking away with Jessie at his side. "I´m guessing we´ll see you in Jubilife though? Considering the contest and all?" Ash smiled and nodded, letting the trio walk away without further words. Brock gazed after them, "I never in my wildest dreams expected that those three would ever quit Team Rocket." Ash rose an eyebrow towards him, before shaking his head slightly. "Well they did and they´re all the better for it," Ash stated honestly.

Around them a slight breeze had picked up, chilling them a bit. In the distance, they could see a few dark clouds, either thunder or rain. "We should probably get going ourselves," Ash stated gazing upon the incoming weather on the horizon. And just like that, the group was once again on the move, leaving behind an angrily sputtering trainer. "So how do you know those guys?" Dawn asked curiously as they walked on. "Well, that´s a long story," Brock stated, looking at Ash. "I first met them at the very first Pokécenter I ever stopped at, in Viridian City back in Kanto," Ash stated. "They were there…" For the next couple of hours, Ash and Brock told the story of how they and Team Rocket knew each other, several times being interrupted by Dawn.

As the rainy weather crept up to them the group finally saw the flashing lights of a skyscraper in the distance, causing them to smile. Dawn smiled brightly as they entered the city about 40 minutes later, dragging the two boys toward what looked like a large tower near the middle of the city. "Come on! I just have to pick up a Pokétch before we head to the Pokécenter," Dawn explained. Ash´s eyebrow rose slightly, "A Pokétch? What´s a Pokétch?" Dawn looked at him shortly, a surprised expression on her face, before she answered. "It´s sort of like a watch, but it also has several other functions."

Shrugging his shoulders Ash allowed Dawn to drag him and Brock to the Pokétch Company, apparently the tower was the headquarters, to pick up a free Pokétch. "So which color do you want?" Dawn asked the two, while she was busy trying to find a fitting pink one for herself. "Hm?" Ash made a slightly confused sound, looking up from the pamphlet he was reading. "We don´t get one, and I don´t feel like buying one," Ash stated simply. "What do you mean? Every trainer gets one?" Dawn asked going over to him, all the while fastening her new Pokétch. Ash shrugged his shoulders and showed her the pamphlet, and then pointed out a slightly smaller script beneath the text. _Unfortunately, this offer is only available for new trainers hailing from the Sinnoh region._

Dawn blinked as she read it again, "Oh. I´m sorry I didn´t know." "Meh, it doesn´t matter," Ash stated shrugging his shoulders again. "I have my X-Transceiver and Brock bought a Pokégear before he headed out, so we have all the gadgets we need." Now Brock cut in, "If we´re all done here, can we head over to the Pokécenter? We haven´t eaten since breakfast earlier today since the weather didn´t allow it." "Alright, let´s go. I´m hungry for sure, and I´m betting that my Pokémon are too," Ash stated laughingly as his stomach growled.

Casually walking through Jubilife, despite the looming threat of a downpour, the group made their way to the Pokécenter. Just as they opened the door, however, a figure was walking out. The person crashed right into Ash, and fell right on her back, though Ash managed to stay on his feet. The irritated red-head looked up on them, a nervous smile on her lips. "Sorry about that, I was kind of in a rush and didn´t look where I was going," she apologized. "Don´t worry about it," Ash smiled, "It could just as easily have been me." Ash turned slightly, gesturing to Brock and Dawn. "These are my friends Brock and Dawn. This," he reached up and rubbed Pikachu under his chin, "is my partner Pikachu. And I´m Ash. So, what´s your name?" The red-head jumped up on her feet, "Zoey. My name is Zoey. It´s a pleasure to meet you, but I really need to run, I forgot to buy Pokémon food." She smiled again and moved past the other, "I´ll see you later, I hope? I´m in town for the contest, so I´ll be around."

Ash blinked as he gazed after her, "Well that is probably one of the weirdest meetings I have ever had." Dawn smiled nervously, "Why do I have the feeling I just met a strong competitor?" Ash and Brock looked at one another before they both burst out laughing. "That feeling is what I usually get when meeting a rival, that along with an inexplicable feeling of having to beat them," Ash explained. Brock nodded, "I´m guessing we are going to be seeing Zoey again, and pretty soon too. Now, who´s up for food?"

 **A/N:**

 **Well, this is a strange feeling for me. I´ve been struggling with a severe writer´s block for the last few weeks, which I overcame today. Most of this chapter is written in a single day, in an airport of all things. I really thought I wouldn´t get anything done today. And then my flight was postponed and I suddenly had 4 hours with nothing to do. Well, it all worked out, I finished the chapter, even though it might be a bit cheaper quality than I usually write.  
**

 **I really don´t think I have anything else to say so…**

 **Till next time!**


	10. Cold Feet and Performance Jitters!

**A/N:**

 **Hello! Well, I´m back at this, and I want to apologize. I have been having a few problems with the story, both writers block and motivational, so I didn´t even start this chapter until now, a little more than a week after the previous one went up. While having a slump and not writing on this I did, however, want to do something productive toward this story, so I made a bio over every Gym Leader, Elite Four member and Champion from Kanto to Sinnoh. That includes where they are from, a bit of info and a full team of six Pokémon for each. I took some creative liberties there, included some OCs and created non-canon teams for the already existing characters. That document ended up being nearly 8000 words in and of itself. I also did one other interesting (in my mind at least) thing, which I will introduce in this chapter actually.**

 **I do hope you review if there is anything that you feel could be implemented, I make no guarantees that I will but I certainly won´t if you don´t suggest it. Considering I didn´t get any reviews that are supposed to be answered except by another chapter this time, I´ll get on with the chapter.**

 _ **I do not in any way, shape or form own Pokémon or any associated products, nor do I profit from this fanfiction.**_

 **With that out of the way, let´s go!**

 **Cold Feet and Performance Jitters!**

The following morning Ash was up early as ever, walking into the brisk morning air outside the Jubilife Pokécenter. Taking a deep breath to take in the fresh air and all the scents with it, Ash´s eyes shot open as he heard a calm voice speak up directly to his side. "You´re up incredibly early, Ash." Looking to his side Ash came face to face with Lance, something he really hadn´t considered happening in Sinnoh of all places.

"Lance, what´s up?" he asked curiously, unable to find a single reason for why Lance would suddenly appear before him. Lance chuckled, "Well, I wasn´t actually looking for you. I was taking a break, G-Men business," Lance answered him easily, though not stating exactly what he was working on. Ash nodded slowly, "So what´s new?" Lance glanced at him before he got up to leave. "Not too much, but we finalized a deal a few days ago and the public announcement should happen at ten in the morning today. You might want to check it out, actually."

"Sure, but right now I need to get started on my training," Ash answered, a bit curious but not overly so. Lance simply shrugged his shoulders and mounted upon his Dragonite, disappearing over the horizon in the blink of an eye. 

"Alright, come on out everybody!" Ash stated easily, letting all of his current roster of ten come out. "Ok, the contest starts in a few days so we need to continue with the specialized training for that Swellow," he gazed at Aipom, who pouted up at him, "and you too Aipom," he amended. Continuing on to give exercises to his new Pokémon, and having his older help them, he turned back to Swellow and Aipom. "Alright, let´s start with finding a way to dodge elegantly," Ash started, "So I want you to use Air Slash against Aipom, and Aipom I want you to use either Swift or Focus Punch to counter or dodge."

It took three hours before Dawn and Brock finally got up and joined Ash outside, the clock just having passed eight. "So, I talked to Lance," Ash casually dropped the bomb as the three of them were eating an early breakfast. Dawn nearly choked on the tea she was drinking, though Brock simply rose an eyebrow. "Why´d you call Lance?" Brock asked, handing a tissue to Dawn. "I didn´t," Ash clarified easily, almost nonchalantly, "He is in Sinnoh, dealing with something. He answered me pretty vaguely though, so I don´t know what." Brock nodded calmly, seemingly in thought.

"How can the two of you speak so calmly about this!?" Dawn exclaimed, seeing the stern look on Ash´s face she quieted down. "You´re talking about meeting one of the Champion Masters! How is this no big deal for you!?" she whisper-shouted at them. "Well, I personally know two who are Champions, and a couple who used to be so it really doesn´t affect me much," Ash shrugged. Dawn blinked rapidly before her eyes widened drastically. "Who are the ones you know?" she asked, a curious gleam in her eyes. 

Ash gazed over at Brock, who nodded before he seemed to scour the area for eavesdroppers. "I know Lance, we met him while traveling through Johto, and Drake Yūji of the Orange League, who I defeated. As for the ones who have previously been Champions, I know Steven Stone and Professor Oak. Professor Oak used to be a great battler before he entered Pokémon research you know?" Ash stated calmly, making sure that both himself and Dawn were quiet. Dawn blushed, as a stray thought about how attractive Ash was when he was serious entered her mind unbidden.

"He actually told me something pretty interesting though, Brock," Ash changed the subject, feeling very done with talking about the Champions he´d met. "Oh yeah? What did he tell you?" Brock asked, curious what Lance could have said that might be interesting. Ash grinned mischievously, "He told me about a press conference that will be aired at ten, so in just about 40 minutes." Dawn exclaimed happily, "Well if he thinks it´s interesting we should watch it, right?" Ash nodded slightly, "Yeah. I intend to at least, but you might use the time to train. I´ll come to get you when the press conference starts." 

Getting a promise from Ash, Dawn set off to train her Pokémon for the contest. "Alright, Piplup and Buneary let´s get training!" she spoke clearly, releasing her two Pokémon from their Pokéballs. "Last time we made good progress," Dawn started explaining, sitting down on the ground in front of her Pokémon. Buneary and Piplup looked at one another and waddled over to Dawn, sitting on the ground in front of her. "I´ve decided that I´ll use Buneary for the appeal round, and Piplup for the battle rounds, alright?" Both Pokémon nodded, understanding fully why their trainer had made this choice.

Getting to work the young girl made her Pokémon practice, while she supervised while planning how to make the best possible appeal. "Hey, Dawn! The conference is starting!" Ash shouted to her from the door, a little more than half an hour later. As he gazed upon the field, he saw the sandy ground seemed to be more than a little moist and sparkled with frost and droplets. "Coming!" Dawn answered him, eagerly heading over with her Pokémon at her heels. The two quickly made their way into the Pokécenter and headed over to the cubicle Brock had occupied for the three of them, making themselves comfortable.

More than a few other trainers had gathered in the lobby, and the orange-haired girl from the day before seemed to be looking for somewhere to sit. "Zoey!" Ash called her over, gesturing to the unoccupied seat beside Brock. Happily taking her seat, Zoey asked curiously, "What´s going on? Most of these trainers seem to be from Kanto or Johto?" Ash blinked as he looked at her, "I´m not going to ask how you know that. The Indigo League has a press conference that starts now, being the League of Kanto and Johto most of us want to see what they have to say." "Ah," Zoey made a slight noise in confirmation, settling her curious gaze on the large TV-screen on the wall.

"Good morning everyone, wherever you are! My name is Christopher Jayze, and I will be the reporter for this special conference. I must admit I have no further idea than the viewers this time around, so let´s get started, shall we? My curiosity will be sated!" the TV-reporter started. "Jayze?" Brock seemed to become even more curious at seeing who the reporter was. Ash´s eyes widened, along with most of the other Johto and Kanto trainers´, as this reporter was known to report on important announcements within the Indigo League.

"Let´s reveal the guests!" Jayze exclaimed exuberantly, gesturing to a large red curtain. Just as he finished his sentence the curtain opened, revealing the group sitting behind it. "What the…!?" Ash audible gasped as the group was revealed. Nobody blamed him for reacting, as most of the other trainers reacted similarly. Behind the curtain had been 10 people sitting at a crescent table, all calmly looking at the cameras. "Why did everyone react so…strangely?" Zoey asked curiously, not realizing who she was viewing on the screen.

Brock took it upon himself to answer the question, "Well, Zoey. The people sitting at that table are all well known in Johto and Kanto, well except two of them that I don´t recognize." "Who are they, Brock?" Dawn asked, her eyebrow raised slightly. "Well from the left sits Will Itsuki and Karen Cordoba, both originally from Johto and part of the Indigo Elite Four. The blonde- and raven-haired people next to them I don´t know, but the silver-haired old guy is Pryce, the Gym Leader of Mahogany." Ash cut in, taking over the explanation, "And next to Pryce is Lance, which is strange considering I met him here earlier. The two after that are Bruno and Agatha of the Indigo Elite Four and Lorelei who used to be a member. The last one is Koga, the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City in Kanto. What I feel is strange is that they are all gathered." 

The volume from the TV seemed to be increased, and the group heard Jayze speak. "Well, I must admit I´m surprised! Champion Lance, would you care to explain?" He approached the table, handing a microphone to the Champion Master. Lance sighed and looked up with a determined expression on his face, "Well it is really quite simple. We are here to announce the split of the Indigo League back into the Johto and Kanto Leagues." With the bomb dropped, most of the trainers seemed in a frenzy, wildly discussing with each other. 

"That was… unexpected," Ash admitted, gaping at the screen. Even Jayze seemed completely shell-shocked at the notion, openly gaping on international television. "What!?" Jayze finally managed to exclaim, still highly confused. "The only reason the two Leagues combined in the first place was the lack of trainers capable of meeting League standards as Elite Four members. However, now both regions will have a Champion and Elite Four that muster up to the harsh standards of the League Competition Committee," Lance went on to explain. "Both Will and Karen will from this point onward be part of the newly reformed Johto Elite Four, but I will let their Champion introduce their League later."

Lance took a breath and smiled to the camera. "For the Kanto League, we welcome back Lorelei Kanna to our Elite Four. We also welcome Koga as our newest member." Jayze instantly went over to the newest Kanto Elite Four member, to ask a few questions. "Koga Anzu, the former Gym Leader of Fuchsia, do you have any comments on this?" Koga, as serious as ever, looked into the camera before he spoke, "I am honored to have been given this chance and to have been found worthy. I will however also mention that Blaine was actually offered this very position, but he declined." Jayze nodded, before prodding a bit further, "You have no issue with being the second choice? And what about the Fuchsia Gym, what will happen there?"

Zoey stood up, "Well, I´m not really interested in this. See you later!" Smiling and waving as she moved away, Dawn watched her leave with narrowed eyes. "Sorry, but this isn´t much for me either. I´ll be training out back," she stated and left quickly. Ash shrugged and shifted his focus back on the screen, only managing to catch the last part of Koga´s statement. "… as for the new Gym Leader, my daughter Janine will be taking the reins and I am confident that she will be very successful."

Jayze nodded and stepped back, allowing the camera to zoom out and show all of the group once more. "Might I ask how this split came into motion?" Jayze asked, finally hitting on one of the questions running through Ash´s head. Lance gestured to the black-haired man, and Jayze hesitantly moved towards the man. As the man rose to his feet it became clear that the man was old, as he struggled slightly getting up and had to lean on a cane to stand properly. The man seemed a proper gentleman, wearing a full suit with a red tie. On his head rested a black bowler, and several rings glinted from the man´s fingers, reflecting light as he received the microphone.

"Greetings," he started, his voice hoarse and gravelly, "My name is Mr. Duncan, or if you´d rather call me by first name Zane, and I will serve as the Johto Champion." Everyone´s eyes widened, slightly shocked at the insinuation. "To answer your question…The truth is I along with my nephew Halvard," he gestured to the blonde at his side, "and my old friend Pryce set it in motion." The old man slowly walked over to Lance, laying a hand on his shoulder. "Pryce, Halvard and I petitioned the PLCC to split the League back into two," he continued, taking a deep breath. "After proving to the PLCC and Lance that we were capable of handling the responsibilities, the agreement was set. Therefore, I´d like to introduce the new members of the Johto Elite Four, Halvard Halbard, nicknamed 'Strom' by his friends, and Pryce Yanagi the former Mahogany Gym Leader. I won´t say much more right now," Zane finished, handing the microphone back.

Jayze took the microphone, blinking rapidly, "Well that does help clear it up. I have a few…" before he could continue a small alarm rang. "Well, the broadcast will be over very soon, but might I ask a question each?" Jayze asked, addressing Pryce and Halvard. The two looked at each other, and Pryce nodded indicating Halvard go first. "The rest of the Elite Four members here are known specialist with one type, would you care to tell us which type you specialize in?" Halvard stroked a hand through his blond goatee, a small smirk on his face, "I don´t mind, I specialize in the Electric-type. That´s also why my friends call me 'Strom', I think it´s some sort of electrical current," Halvard answered, a slightly nervous laugh as he finished. "Thank you, Halvard. For the last question before this broadcast ends, Pryce. Now that you have taken an Elite Four position, what will happen with the Mahogany Gym?" 

Pryce chuckled lightly, "Just like Koga passed his Gym to his daughter, my Gym will pass to my grandson, Marcus. Unfortunately, he does not specialize in Ice-types and so the Mahogany Gym will change to a Water-type Gym." "Thank you for answering my questions, and granting me the honor of being here," Jayze spoke, bowing to the two separate Leagues. As the 10 people leave quietly, Jayze turned to the cameras. "Thank all of the viewers for tuning in on this surprise broadcast. Now you must excuse me, the full shock seems to be setting in. I look forward to seeing how this will continue!" With that the broadcast seemed to end, the TV turning off.

Ash blinked, turning to Brock. "Did that just happen?" he asked, taking a large sip of the water in front of him. Brock nodded slowly, "Yeah, it did. I never thought the Indigo League would split, but thinking about it I guess it isn´t that strange." Ash nodded, getting up and started moving to the outside. "You coming, Brock?" he asked over his shoulder. Without much further prodding Brock got up and followed Ash outside, where the two proceeded to quickly catch Dawn up on the new development.

That evening the three settled down to view a special event that had been announced during the day, an exhibition match between Champion Zane Duncan of Johto and Champion Lance Wataru of Kanto. As the match is only an exhibition match the two Champions only used three Pokémon each. As the match currently stood Lance was leading two to one, having taken out Zane´s Pidgeot and Gardevoir while only losing his Flygon. "Return Pidgeot, my friend," Zane spoke calmly still as he recalled his fallen bird. "You truly are a powerful young man, Lance. Do not think you will win this easily, however," Zane stated. 

"Lopunny, let´s go!" Zane spoke loudly, releasing his new Pokémon. "What Pokémon is that?" Ash asked curiously, quickly finding his Pokédex and scanning it. The metallic monotone of his Pokédex beeped to life stating, "Lopunny the Rabbit Pokémon, and the evolved form of Buneary. Through a tight bond with its closest partner Buneary evolves into this powerful Pokémon. It uses its hind legs to kick or grind its opponent into the ground, generating powerful force. Instead of the pouchlike cushion of fur that Buneary has, Lopunny has three different places were the yellow-white fur is gathered. These three are its hands, its ears, and its legs. Though preferring to use its ears to strike with just as it did previously, Lopunny can also attack with its hands." The metallic voice of Ash´s Pokédex whirred into silence, making the three divert their attention back to the screen. 

"Your Lopunny can´t defeat both my Aerodactyl and my Dragonite, Zane," Lance spoke calmly, staring his opponent down. "I do think you are underestimating me, young Lance. Lopunny, my dear? Let´s show them your true power, shall we?" Zane answered, lifting his cane slightly from the ground. A bright light started shining from the handle before Zane lightly tapped the cane to the ground. A flood of light gathered around his Lopunny, shielding it from view. When the lights died down, Lopunny looked very differently. Instead of its previous beautiful appearance, the Lopunny now seemed to be more than battle ready, with black fur covering its legs from its yellow-white fur up to its body and the fur of its ears splitting into two groupings. 

"Lop!" it roared, standing fully ready. "What is that!?" Dawn exclaimed, as did many others around the room. Ash stared at the screen in wonder, turning to Brock with a large grin on his face. "It seems it truly does exist, eh Brock?" he muttered. Brock could do nothing but nod dumbly, not fully believing what he was seeing. "Mega Evolution…I thought it was just a rumor, but…" Brock didn´t continue the sentence, not fully comprehending what he was seeing before him. 

"That means the Meganite Stones actually can help a Pokémon evolve beyond evolution," Ash stated looking up at Pikachu. The rest of the room stared at the screen as the Lopunny easily defeated Aerodactyl, and battled Lance´s Dragonite fiercely. In the end, Zane managed to grab the win as Dragonite crashed to the ground just as Lopunny reverted back to its original form. "That shows you just how powerful a Pokémon becomes after Mega Evolving, though if I remember correctly only a few select Pokémon are able to," Ash stated, patting Dawn´s back as he walked past her on his way to bed.

The following morning Ash slept late, wanting to be well rested for the contest. As he got up the sunlight hit his eyes from a small opening in the curtains, making the young man squint. Bringing a hand up, Ash touched the bandages that were still wrapped around his chest. -These might get a bit in the way, Ash thought to himself, feeling the rough texture. Deciding that he couldn´t remove the bandages, Ash walked out of his room and met with the others in the lobby. "Good morning," he spoke as he sat down opposite to Brock. "Morning Ash, are you ready for the contest?" Brock asked, handing Ash a bowl of the soup he made for breakfast. "I feel pretty ready, but we won´t know for sure before we try," Ash answered, a wide smile on his face. "Well, we should go to the Contest Hall and get ready," he continued, walking out of the center with Dawn by his side.

The two quickly walked into the Contest Hall and made sure their participation was in order, before heading to changing rooms. Ash easily slipped into his new outfit, consisting of a pair of black suit pants and a scarlet shirt coupled with a black silk vest. Walking out to the waiting room confidently, Ash drew quite a few appreciative looks from the female competitors. As he sat there waiting he started to become worried as Dawn didn´t show up, actually spending quite some time in the changing rooms.

When she finally appeared, she had Zoey at her side and the two made their way over to Ash. Dawn was wearing a pink dress with a large red ribbon as a belt, and three smaller red ribbons as decoration. She had put her hair up in a ponytail, and Ash noticed a small black choker with a red ribbon around her neck. "There you are, Dawn. I was getting worried," Ash stated kindly as the two younger girls came over to him. Dawn blushed, "I had some problems with my hair, so Zoey here helped me." Ash nodded, a small smile on his face, "You had doubts that you were ready, didn´t you?" 

Dawn looked a bit taken aback by the comment but shyly nodded with an intensified blush. Looking over at Zoey Ash noticed she was wearing a white blazer with a few golden details, over a striped pair of pants. "How about you Zoey, you don´t strike me as a first timer with how relaxed you are," he asked curiously, as the red-head was completely calm. "I´m not, I have competed before. Actually, already have a ribbon," she answered him, a confident smile on her face. Ash nodded, setting his focus back on Dawn, who was sitting beside him, and trying to help her relax. "What about you, Ash?" Zoey asked a small blush on her face as well, as Ash was quite handsome in the new outfit. 

"Mhm?" Ash seemed to only realize he had been talked to but continued quickly after. "Oh, I have competed before, but I´m not really a coordinator. I´m a Gym battler," he explained, "I only decided to do this because I have an Aipom who wanted too." Zoey seemed confused at first but then she seemed to realize what Ash had just stated, which seemed to slightly anger her. "If you´re not a coordinator you shouldn´t participate in contests!" she hissed at him, quietly enough that no one of the others heard her. 

Ash smiled at her, not really concerned about her outburst. "Why not wait until you have actually seen what I can do before you judge?" he commented idly, all the while rubbing Dawn´s back to help keep her calm. Zoey took a deep breath, "I guess I don´t have much of a choice." Walking away from the two, Zoey seemed to be a bit stumped. Over the intercom, a voice announced, "The contest will start in 5 minutes, the first contestant is Fredrick Hazan of Camphrier Town. Please ready yourself and pay attention to the intercom, thank you."

The contest went by quickly, several coordinators having gotten their shot. "The next contestant is Zoey Nozomi of Snowpoint City," the announcer spoke up, and Zoey stepped onto the stage to massive applause. "Misdreavus, help me out!" she spoke clearly, releasing her Ghost-type. Apparently, she had a Smoke Seal on her Pokéball as a large cloud of smoke billowed out of the Pokéball, obscuring the Pokémon. "Start off with a Thunderbolt!"

The result of Misdreavus´ Thunderbolt was instantaneous, and crackling lights shone out of the smoke cloud. "Continue with Magical Leaf!" The leaves shot out from the smoke cloud, dispersing it in the process. The electricity and smoke clung to each leaf, making a shining trail behind them. "Alright, Will-O-Wisp!" Misdreavus reacted quickly to its trainer´s command, and eight orbs of glowing purple flame floated around it. "Fire!" Misdreavus shot the orbs into the leaves, exploding them and making it rain sparkling light. With that, the Misdreavus floated down to Zoey´s side, where they both curtsied to the crowd. "What a marvelous appeal! You have clearly raised Misdreavus well," the Nurse Joy praised. "Simply remarkable!" "Yes, truly a magnificent display."

"The next contestant is Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town!" the intercom informed, making Ash get up and move toward the stage. "Good luck, Ash!" Dawn spoke after him, making Ash smile over his shoulder at her. He took a deep breath as he entered the stage, smiling up at the applauding crowd. Grabbing Swellow´s Pokéball and spinning it on the tip of his finger, he smirked slightly. "Swellow let´s rumble!" -I don´t like that version, Ash thought to himself as he yelled it, -I will never use that again.

Swellow appeared in a shower of sparks, some of them latching onto Swellow and coloring it golden. -Just like the battle against Liza and Tate, still don´t know quite how it works though, Ash thought to himself. "Let´s start it off with Aerial Ace!" Swellow took to the skies easily, leaving a trail of electricity behind it in addition to the regular wind. The effect made for quite the effect and many in the crowd gasped at seeing the beautiful light. "Next up, Air Slash!" 

Six separate blades of wind flew off Swellow´s wings with a mighty beat, creating a booming thunder when coupled with the lingering electric energy. The six wind blades slammed into the stage, whipping up a sort of tornado. "Let´s wrap it up with Brave Bird!" "Swellow!" Swellow roared and suddenly a flaming exterior appeared around the bird, with specks of lightning visible. Swellow dove into the rising tornado, stopping the dive by spreading its wings quickly while nearly on the ground. The resulting force sent the wind, electricity, and fire off of Swellow creating a marvelous sight of a colorful pressure wave. 

Having ended its appeal, Swellow flew over to Ash and perched on his shoulder. With Swellow on his shoulder, Ash bowed to the crowd, who proceeded to applaud wildly. Mr. Contesta clapped with a bright smile on his smile, "An incredible display of Swellow´s power and finesse in the air. I truly enjoyed watching your Swellow show off its best qualities." "Looking at how shining and pristine Swellow´s feathers are I can see you take good care of your Pokémon," Nurse Joy spoke, a happy expression engulfing her face. "Simply remarkable."

Ash bowed to the judges as well and walked off the stage while stroking Swellow´s plumage. He walked straight over to Dawn, who still seemed extremely nervous, and sat down. "You need to relax Dawn, you won´t be able to do anything if you freeze up on stage," Ash commented, handing her a handkerchief. Blowing her nose and taking a deep breath, Dawn once again tried calming down. "I… I´m just so nervous, what if I fail? What if…" she almost started to ramble, but Ash cut her off. "No. Don´t think like that, if you do that´s all you´ll be able to focus on and then you really won´t make it. Focus on what to do, and leave the negative thoughts," Ash stated sternly, looking her straight in the eye.

Just then the current contestant finished up and the intercom announced simply, "The next contestant is Dawn Berlitz of Twinleaf Town!" "Go out there, have fun and leave the thoughts about what will happen until you´re done!" Ash spoke helpfully, pushing her slightly toward the stage. She took a deep breath, smiled at him shyly and left for the stage. "That was nice of you," Zoey spoke up from just behind him, making him turn to face her. "She is a friend and travel companion, why wouldn´t I try to help her?" he asked rhetorically.

"Look I… I wanted to apologize, it seems I misjudged you," Zoey spoke quietly, looking down into the floor. "Don´t worry about it, I know about the rivalry between Gym battlers and coordinators. I told you the only reason I´m even competing is that my Aipom wanted to try it," Ash assured her, smiling all the while. Zoey nodded, a small shy smile appearing on her face. "So, who do you think will move on to the battle rounds?" she asked as she sat down next to him, watching the TV monitor. "Can I answer that after Dawn´s appeal?" he asked, focusing on the monitor. Zoey nodded and sat quietly beside him. 

Dawn was breathing deeply, trying to calm herself before she stepped out. She adopted a small smile as she walked onto the stage, the applause of the crowd nearly inaudible to her. The only thing she heard was the sound of her own heartbeat, proving to herself that she was still very nervous and not as calm as she´d like. "Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn chanted, twirling while releasing her small Rabbit Pokémon.

In a shower of colorful stars, Buneary appeared, with a happy smile on her face and posing cutely. Taking a breath Dawn started the appeal, "Let´s start with the Ice Beam!" Buneary nodded and slowly started to create the slide she would be having fun with, specks of frost shining brilliantly in the sun. As the slide was full created Dawn continued, "Use Dizzy Punch!" A colorful shine enveloped Buneary´s ears and with a powerful shove, she glided over the icy construct, occasionally using the Dizzy Punch to pick up speed. With each hit of Dizzy Punch, a shower of frosty particles flew off the ice sparkling in the air. "Alright, use Bounce!" 

Buneary shot quickly into the air, the Dizzy Punch faded from her ears. "Finish up with Dizzy Punch!" Buneary crashed into the icy construct, cracking the entire construct and making it fall apart in a shower of sparkling ice particles. Dawn breathed lightly, as Buneary bounced playfully over to her leaving the ice construct to slowly melt. Dawn and Buneary curtsied to the crowd and then the judges in order. "Finding an appeal in having fun is just what makes a Pokémon like Buneary shine, well done," Mr. Contesta commented. "Your Buneary looks very healthy and happy, and gave a beautiful performance," Nurse Joy smiled at her. "Remarkable I´d say."

Dawn skipped happily back to the waiting room, nearly tackling Ash with a hug. "Thank you," she mumbled, a blush spreading as she realized what she just did. Zoey, still seated next to Ash, praised Dawn on her performance, "That was really good, Dawn. I never would have guessed you were a newbie if you hadn´t told me." "She´s right, that was a good performance," Ash commented, a smile on his face making Dawn blush even brighter. "So, about the question, I asked earlier Ash, would you like to answer now?" Zoey smirked as she addressed Ash. 

Ash rubbed his chin and thought about it quickly, "Well if I were to guess based on who I know is competing and who already has performed, I´d say all three of us will move on. There is also an old acquaintance of mine called Jessie who will probably move on, other than that I´m not really sure." Ash shrugged after that, slowly walking towards the exit. "We should probably get something to eat, hard to focus on an empty stomach," he stated, smiling toward Zoey and Dawn. The two girls looked at each other, and quickly caught up to Ash. "Good idea," Zoey commented, as they kept walking.

The three returned from eating with Brock about half an hour later, to see who moved on. On the screen were eight faces, conveniently also matched up so the three can see who is competing against each other in the battle rounds. Looking up at the board Ash smiled as he saw he was correct in his guess, as the three of them along with Jessie had moved on. Curiously none of them would battle another in the first round, spreading smiles on their faces. Ash would battle Zoey in the semifinals if they both moved on, and Dawn would battle Jessie under the same criteria.

Ash smiled as he looked over at Dawn and Zoey, who was both beginning to prepare for the battle rounds.

 **A/N:**

 **Just so people understand it, I didn´t like that the Johto and Kanto regions had the same Elite Four and Champion. Therefore, I changed it, hopefully in a believable way. I enjoy the games a lot and in Gen 2 Karen, Will, and Koga are suddenly all Elite Four members so I decided that they would be Elite Four members here too. Lorelei had been replaced and wasn´t part of the Elite Four at this point in time, because of the merger between the Leagues. So, fixing the Kanto side was very simple; Keep Agatha, as she hadn´t retired here, and Bruno, bring Lorelei back and bring Koga up as an Elite Four member since the game has done that themselves. Easy enough, but the Johto side was a little more difficult. I needed three new members there, only having Will and Karen who I chose to be from Johto. So, I found out that I felt Pryce needed a bit of recognition, and decided to make him Elite Four. Still lacking two and not being able to think of anyone, except Eusine (I don´t like Eusine), I made two OCs and made them Elite Four and Champion of Johto.**

 **As for their last names, that´s mostly their Japanese names or at least inspired by their Japanese names (except for Karen since she is** _ **Karin**_ **in Japanese).**

 **I also remembered that I haven´t actually stated what Pokémon Gens I intend to use, and the answer is quite simple: All of them. There are Pokémon in all Gens that I like, though I don´t necessarily like the Gen. So, I decided that all of the main series regions are still regions in this fanfic and Pokémon from those regions might appear (including Alolan forms).**

 **That said this fanfic won´t go past the Sinnoh League, as I have another idea in the back of my head that I want to write after this fanfic ends if that ever happens.  
**

**Oh, and Mega Evolution is a thing here. It won´t be widespread, but I believe all Champions will have one and Ash will probably be able to Mega Evolve a few of his own. I won´t have the Stones be specific, as that would just take a lot of effort in finding the right scenario for adding the right stone. They will simply be Meganite Stones (I borrowed the name from somewhere, don´t really remember where), though Ash will still need a Key Stone. Haven´t fully decided when that will happen, or if Brock will also be included in that.**

 **Sorry for the long A/N, I realize it probably made you think the chapter was longer than it actually is.**

 **See you next time!**


	11. Ending in Style!

**A/N:**

 **So, I´m back again. I got a review on the last chapter which I must confess I didn´t truly understand, don´t know if it was poorly constructed or if I´m just a bit slow on the uptake there. Said something about line-break, and I´m wondering if you meant to put the actual line into my document (which I am not going to do regardless, because I feel it ruins the esthetic) or if you meant that I should have more of a segway before I switch time/scene, which I might be persuaded to do. So, if whoever wrote the review wants to stand by it, make an account and PM me about it. Of course, if there are others who agree with him feel free to let me know, and we´ll see how I can deal with it.  
**

**Answers to reviews:**

 **Xion the XIV:** **You make a fairly good point, especially with the Battle Bond. That being said I have already established that Meganite Stones are a thing in Working Wonders, and I really don´t feel like changing an already posted chapter unless absolutely necessary.**

 **I can, however, state that the Meganite Stones will act as the conduit alone, without Ash having to** _ **search**_ **for a Key Stone. Quite frankly Ash already has what I intended to be his Key Stone, see if you can guess what it is.**

 **Other than that, I didn´t really receive any review that I feel needs an answer, so let´s move on.**

 _ **I do not in any way own Pokémon or any associated products, and this is a non-profit hobby.**_

 **Onward to the chapter then!**

 **Ending in Style!**

It has been about 20 minutes since Ash and his friends returned to the contest Hall after lunch, the one-hour recess about to end. Ash had Aipom out of her Pokéball to brush her, and to give her a last-minute pep talk. "Alright Aipom, I know you want to do this and we will always do our best so we will try to win. You need to remember though, that this isn´t my usual arena so if we lose that might be the reason," Ash stated, a happy smile on his face. The intercom blared up, "The first match of the battle rounds will be between Zoey Nozomi and Fredrick Hazan, and will commence in five minutes! Contestant prepare yourselves and head toward the stage!"

"Good luck, Zoey!" Dawn cheerily said as the red-head passed her, causing a bright smile to appear on her face. "Thanks, good luck to you too," Zoey answered her and kept moving towards the stage. Ash leaned against a pillar in the middle of the waiting room, focusing on the TV-monitor and the countdown that is displayed. 

"Time is up! Contestants take the stage!" the host announced about three minutes later. The countdown disappeared from the TV-monitor, and the stage appeared once again. "Contestants choose your Pokémon!" Zoey took a deep breath, before making a slight pirouette and releasing her Pokémon. "Glameow, I choose you!" Her opponent sneered arrogantly, before releasing his own Pokémon. "Let´s go, Nidorina!" "And our contestants have chosen their Pokémon! Zoey with her Glameow and Fredrick with his Nidorina! Let us see who comes out on top! Let the battle…begin!" the host cheered, almost completely drowned out by the massive applause from the crowd.

"Nidorina, kick it off with Poison Sting!" Fredrick commanded quickly, pointing his hand towards Glameow. The stream of poisonous barbs shot toward the Catty Pokémon, who only reacted when Zoey commanded it. "Glameow dodge that and shoot Shadow Ball!" Having gotten her command Glameow arched her back as she vaulted over the stream of poison barbs, and fired off a concentrated Shadow Ball. With the marvelous dodge, Fredrick´s points diminished slightly. "Use Bite to destroy that!" Nidorina opened her mouth, her teeth glowing, and bit down hard crushing the Ghost-type attack.

The Shadow Ball burst into a massive shower of brilliant sparks, causing Zoey to lose more points than Fredrick had. "Use Slash, Glameow!" Zoey ordered, her voice calm and focused. "Block that with Poison Jab!" The glowing claws of Glameow clashed harshly with the purple shining punch of Nidorina, creating an explosion. A thick cloud of smoke billowed out, clouding the stage. Both contestants´ points decreased as a result of the cloud, Zoey still having the disadvantage.

"Nidorina use Poison Fang!" Fredrick commanded, giving Zoey a perfect chance. "Sucker Punch to counter!" Within the smoke cloud, two small purple lights started shining, before a dark shadow suddenly slammed into them. Nidorina came hurdling out of the smoke, crashing into the ground in front of Fredrick. "Iron Tail to blow away the smoke!" Zoey ordered. Within moments the smoke was dispersed by a powerful gust of wind, revealing Glameow standing on its tail in the middle of the stage.

Fredrick´s point took a serious hit, making him visibly grit his teeth. "Nidorina let´s go with Sludge Bomb!" The giant blob of sludge shot toward Glameow at a high velocity, but not too fast for Zoey. "Hit it back with Iron Tail!" Glameow jumped up and flipped its body forward, slamming its tail into the oncoming Poison-type attack. The Iron Tail managed to send much of the Sludge Bomb back, though not all of it. Some of the Sludge Bomb hit Glameow, slightly damaging the Catty Pokémon. "Nidorina!" Fredrick shouted as the larger amount of the Sludge Bomb crashed into his Pokémon.

"You alright Glameow!?" Zoey asked, concern in her voice. "Gla…" Glameow purred, crouched down to be ready to react. Just then a loud buzzer sounded out, shocking both Zoey and Fredrick who had lost track of the time. Both realizing they didn´t know who had won, they gazed upon the large screen over the judges´ table. Seeing the points, Zoey gave a sigh of relief as her points were higher than Fredrick´s. "And the winner is…Zoey Nozomi! Good luck in the next round!" the host announced gladly. 

"Ah!" Fredrick gave an aggravated sigh, before quickly returning his Nidorina. He then moved toward Zoey and put his hand forward. "I might not like losing, but at the very least I´ll do so with grace," he commented idly as they shook hands. "The next contestants are Ash Ketchum and Kira Jirano! Please make your way to the stage!"

Backstage Ash had gotten up and quickly moved toward the stage, meeting Zoey on his way. "Nice job," he commented as he walked past her. "Thanks. Good luck out there," Zoey hesitantly answered him. Ash smiled over his shoulder, waving slightly to her. -Alright, Aipom, let´s see what we can do, Ash thought as he moved onto the stage. "The contestants have appeared and are ready! Choose your Pokémon!" "Alright Aipom, let´s go!" Ash immediately stated, releasing the small purple monkey. "Let´s dance, Poliwhirl!" his opponent responded, her long raven hair swinging. Curiously Ash noticed the blue streaks in her hair, even as it swayed in the wind on the other side of the stage. 

"Ash has chosen Aipom, which will go up against Kira´s Poliwhirl. Let the battle begin!" the host announced, somehow hyping the crowd with the simple statement. "Poliwhirl use Ice Punch on the floor!" Kira ordered immediately. "Trying to restrain Aipom´s movement?" Ash smirked, "Aipom use Focus Punch!" Following what Aipom understood to be Ash´s order, she slammed the Focus Punch into the ground. The pressure of Aipom´s attack cracked the ice and sent a massive score of icicles into the air, mostly hitting Poliwhirl. "Swift!" The sea of brilliantly shining stars cascaded toward Poliwhirl, who had no way to defend himself. "Poliwhirl! Use Bubblebeam!" Kira yelled, clearly stressed out.

"Aipom, follow the plan and use Focus Punch!" Ash commanded, to the confusion of everyone else. All of a sudden Aipom disappeared from view, only to reappear on top of one of the many stars from her Swift attack. The tail slammed hard into Poliwhirl, sending it flying into the wall. When the dust settled it was clear that Poliwhirl was knocked out, Kira staring in disbelief at the sight. "Since Kira´s Poliwhirl can no longer battle, the winner of the round is Ash!" Kira returned Poliwhirl and walked into the center of the stage, where she met Ash who now had Aipom sitting on his shoulder.

"Congratulations," Kira managed to say, though Ash could see the unshed tears in the crook of her eye. "Thanks, and if it´s worth anything… I´m sorry," Ash said, feeling a bit guilty. "Oh, it´s fine. It just means we have to train harder so this doesn´t happen in our next contest," Kira said a small sad smile on her lips. Ash nodded slightly, and the two parted ways after shaking hands. As he entered the waiting room he managed to hear the announcement of the next contestants, Jessie and a kid named, Kyle Harrington.

-Unless the kid is a lot better than he seemed Jessie will eat him alive, Ash thought to himself as he moved over to Zoey and Dawn. Not even slightly paying attention to the TV-monitor, Ash rather spent his focus on calming and assuring Dawn. "It´s alright Dawn, no one can be expected to instantly succeed," Ash reasoned, smiling at the nervous girl. "As long as you and Piplup are prepared, and you try your best you will be fine. Do you want to know what my grandfather told me once? 'I´ll win whether I am the defeater or the defeated. One is a validation of all the lessons I´ve learned, while the other teaches me the lesson I still need,'" Ash finished the quotation just as the host announced the next matchup. 

"The last pair of the first stage battle rounds will be between Dawn Berlitz and Edmund Burns! Will the contestant please come to the stage!?" As Dawn walked away, trying hard to keep herself calm, Jessie walked back into the waiting room. She was wearing a black tank top under a scarlet leather jacket, coupled with a black pair of jeans. As for accessories she had a necklace with a miniature ruby and her wedding band. "So, Ash, how do you like the contest?" Jessie asked as she sat down, utterly relaxed and at ease. "Well, to be honest, it´s fun. I still prefer battling, but I see the appeal in contests too. Did you move on? I must confess I didn´t pay attention," Ash commented, rubbing a hand over the back of his own head. 

Jessie laughed slightly, "Yes, I moved on. Hopefully, that means I´ll meet your new travel companion in the next round." Ash rose an eyebrow at her, "Hopefully?" Jessie looked at him, a small smile playing at her lips, "If she is anything like the two last girls traveling with you she will be a good opponent." Ash laughed heartily at Jessie´s admission of his previous traveling partners skill, falling into a short trip down memory lane. Until the announcement from the conferencier drew him back, "Contestants choose your Pokémon!" 

Edmund quickly released his chosen Pokémon, "Flame on, Fletchinder!" "Piplup, spotlight!" The two contrasting seals enveloped each other, Piplup´s bubbles and Fletchinder´s flames clashing for superiority. "The contestants are ready! Let the battle begin!" Edmund was again the faster of the two, "Flame Charge!" The larger bird rushed toward Piplup surrounded by a shield of flame, some of it serving as thrusters to increase speed.

"Piplup dodge that and use Bubblebeam!" Dawn shouted, still calm albeit barely. Piplup instantly jumped toward the charging Fletchinder, spinning to the side and barely avoiding the attack. Stopping the spin, Piplup quickly took aim at his opponent and let the Bubblebeam rip. The rain of bubbles impacted harshly against Fletchinder´s back, dropping Edmund´s points. "Shit! Fletchinder use Ember to evaporate the bubbles, then switch into Steel Wing!"

Forcing its head around Fletchinder proceed to rapidly fire a massive number of small embers to meet Piplup´s Bubblebeam, making the bubbles pop and sparkle as the humidity transferred from liquid to gas form. Almost seamlessly Fletchinder switched from the Ember into Steel Wing, showing all too clearly how much Edmund had trained it in chain attacks. "Piplup, use Peck to counter!" Dawn commanded, a bit more stressed than before.

The stage had already taken quite a bit of beating throughout the contest, being slick with water and sporting a few dents after the previous battles. The clash between Steel Wing and Peck sent Piplup backward, slipping on the water and sailing across the stage. Dawn seemed to give a small smile, before she commanded, "Piplup, use Peck again! Use the water on the stage to move around!" Piplup, intent on doing his trainer´s will, activated his Peck attack and jumped onto his stomach on the watery stage, easily picking up speed against the wet surface.

The attack connected with Fletchinder, sending the larger bird careening backward but not quite sending it to the ground. "Alright, Piplup use Bubblebeam!" Not having fully recovered from the earlier Fletchinder was in no position to dodge, and the super-effective attack slammed harshly into it. "No!" Edmund roared the first sign of emotion on his otherwise impassive face. "Fletchinder get up! Please!" he asked, prompting the downed bird to slowly push itself up. Dawn quickly glanced up at the board, seeing that she was leading the round by a fair margin. "Fletch-Fletchinder!" the bird screeched as it finally got up, spreading its wings widely.

"Yes! Can you use Ember, Fletchinder?" Edmund asked, a bit careful with the order. His Pokémon immediately used the attack, encircling Piplup within a ring of fire. "No!" Dawn whispered to herself, a bit afraid of what would happen now. "Piplup, can you use it?" she asked, knowing that Piplup´s newest attack was the only option. Even if the attack hadn´t been fully mastered yet, and it ran the risk of backfiring. Piplup nodded, a bit of sweat running down his face, and started to gather his energy to launch the attack. "Fletchinder use Aerial Ace to end this!" Edmund commanded, intent on winning as quickly as possible.

The gathered energy within Piplup started to quickly make its way to the surface, creating what seemed to be a large shield of water above him. The large streaming mass of water built even further, creating a funnel way larger than its creator. The Whirlpool attack engulfed the charging Fletchinder, stopping its attack cold in its tracks. When Piplup started losing control of the attack, he quickly swirled a bit and sent the attack crashing to the ground. The motion, coupled with the mass of water, sent Fletchinder skidding to a halt just in front of Edmund´s feet, knocked out cold.

Edmund stared in disbelief at his unconscious Pokémon, not paying the slightest attention to his soaked shoes and pants. "Fletchinder is unable to continue, which means the round goes to Piplup and Dawn!" the conferencier announced, gaining a large cacophony of applause toward the end. Piplup blinked, not fully comprehending that he had just won for his trainer before Dawn had picked him and spun him around. "You did it, Piplup! Thank you!" Dawn gushed over her starter, even as she made her way off the stage. Quickly moving toward the waiting room, she vaguely heard that there would be a quick recess to dry the stage before the next rounds. 

She walked over to Ash and Zoey as the first thing she did when she reentered the waiting room, where even the last coordinator sat. "Oh, that´s right," Ash realized as Dawn walked over to the three of them, "I don´t think I ever got to introduce you to Jessie?" He motioned toward the last coordinator, who Dawn knew would be her next opponent. "A pleasure to meet you," Dawn smiled at the older purple-haired woman. "Indeed, it´s a pleasure," Jessie answered, her own smile on her lips. The waiting room was empty now, except for the four of them, the pillows and couches neat and tidy. The light showed how spacious and welcoming the waiting room was, and though the light orange color of the walls wasn´t the prettiest it was at least better than a completely sterile white room.

"As the stage has been dried and is ready for further use, the second round of the battle stage will now commence! The first battle will be between Zoey Nozomi and Ash Ketchum! Will the contestants please ready themselves and head towards the stage?" the host announced over the intercom a few minutes later. Ash smiled at Zoey and got up, moving slowly toward the stage. -Going against Zoey, huh? She seemed to know what she was doing, so this might be challenging, he thought to himself.

The two stepped onto the stage, staring each other down from across one another. "Alright, contestants release your Pokémon!" Ash took a deep breath, "Aipom, let´s go!" "Glameow, I need you!" Zoey´s voice answered him just a few moments later. The crowd started cheering upon the two Pokémon appearing on the stage, a loud roaring buzz in the background. "The contestants have chosen their Pokémon, let the battle begin!" the host announced, over the roaring applause of the crowd. "Alright! Storm the field with Swift!" Ash stated quickly, not giving Zoey the first move.

Aipom moved quickly, springing high into the air and letting off a massive wave of stars. The stars created a large typhoon around the stage, cutting Ash and Zoey off from the crowd. Zoey looked around, impressed at the large-scale attack. "Glameow we can´t be standing here without doing anything! Let´s use your Shadow Ball on the Swift!" Zoey commanded, after a few moments. Quickly after the command was given Glameow fired off three Shadow Balls, impacting different parts of the massive Swift storm. The resulting explosions sent showers of glittering dust down to the stage but did little to diminish the number of stars. "Use Focus Punch!" 

Aipom darted through the shower of glitter with its tail glowing a light blue, quickly closing in on Glameow. "Glameow dodge that and use Slash!" With its incredible flexibility, Glameow avoided the attack, landing a solid Slash straight into Aipom´s side. The attack made Aipom stagger to the side, allowing Zoey time for a follow-up. "Now use Iron Tail!" With a quick, flourished frontal flip Glameow tagged Aipom squarely with the devastating attack, sending Aipom crashing into the ground. "Aipom get up, and create some distance!" Ash yelled, a bit concerned as Aipom was still relatively new to his team. 

Struggling slightly in the beginning Aipom did manage to get to her feet, though a bit wobbly. "Alright use…," was as far as Zoey got in her new command before Ash cut her off, "Enough!" The voice carried easily over the stadium, cutting through the buzz of applause from the crowd. "Aipom stop the Swift," he said quietly. Aipom turned toward him, still wobbly, and tried to gesture that she could continue. "Aipom… I know you want to, but I can´t risk you getting injured. End it," he stated, a bit sad but not any less definitive. The storm of stars calmed down, each star popping into dust. "What are you doing, Ash?" Zoey asked, concern and uncertainty evident in her voice.

"Aipom," he simply stated, and walked over to the purple monkey. Touching the side of her head, not even applying pressure, he showed everyone what he meant. The slight touch made Aipom recoil slightly, even as light as it was. "She can´t continue without risking injury, and I won´t allow that," Ash stated before he picked Aipom up and slowly made his way off the stage. When he was nearly off he turned to Nurse Joy, "Is your Chansey over at the Pokécenter?" The young woman smiled brightly at him and nodded, causing a smile to appear on Ash´s face as he continued on his way.

Zoey stood left on the stage, a bit confused. "As Ash has chosen to retire his Aipom in fear of serious injury, and as such Zoey and her Glameow will move on to the final," the host announced after a quick discussion with the coaches. Before heading over to the Pokécenter, Ash poked his head into the waiting room. "Hey, Dawn. Sorry, I can´t watch your match, but I need to get Aipom over to the Pokécenter. Good luck against Jessie," he informed Dawn before he disappeared from the door. 

"I´m sorry for stopping you, Aipom," Ash stated quietly as he walked toward the Pokécenter, still cradling Aipom in his arms. "Ai-Aipom!" Aipom argued, careful to not move too much. "I know you wanted to win, but I can´t be rash like that. So, I pulled you out before you were severely injured," he explained, smiling down on Aipom. Aipom smiled back, ruffling Ash´s hair with her tail. It took Ash about 15 minutes to walk from the Contest Hall, as he couldn´t run with Aipom in his arms. "Chansey!" Ash called, walking up to the counter. Within moments the happy face of a Chansey appeared before Ash, making Ash and Aipom smile.

"Can I trust you to be good to Chansey, while I go back to view the rest of the contest Aipom?" Ash asked, looking sternly into Aipom´s eyes. Aipom nodded, a mischievous smile on her lips, which vanished when Chansey grabbed her neck and walked her toward one of the recovery rooms. Ash waved at Aipom and quickly made his way out of the Pokécenter and toward the Contest Hall. Seeing as he could now run, not having to take Aipom into consideration, he reached the Contest Hall within four minutes, though not without building up a sweat. Quickly walking into the crowd´s area, Ash found a seat next to Brock. Gazing down onto the stage Ash saw Jessie and Zoey standing opposite each other, though they hadn´t started the battle yet. 

"Jessie beat Dawn?" he asked Brock, not really surprised but still wanting to know how. Brock gazed over at him, "Yeah, but Dawn put up a great battle. How is Aipom?" Ash sighed, "She should be fine, but she is kind of disappointed that I ended her contest performance." Ash took a sniff in the air, recognizing that he smelled pretty bad as a result of the sweat. "Alright, let us now begin the final of the Jubilife Contest! Our two final coordinators are Zoey Nozomi and Jessie Kojirō! Choose your Pokémon!" the host suddenly announced, though admittedly Ash was the only one taken by surprise.

"Glameow, let´s go!" Zoey stated, releasing her Glameow. Jessie smiled, giving a slight pirouette, and released her Pokémon. "Arbok, show us your power!" The larger Arbok towered over Glameow, its head about as high up as Jessie´s. "And the final Pokémon has been chosen, it´s Arbok versus Glameow! Let the battle begin!" With that the crowd roared, even Ash joining in.

"Glameow use Slash!" Zoey commanded, hoping to get a head start. "Arbok dodge that and slam it with Poison Tail!" Arbok seemed to curve its body, completely avoiding the attack. Glameow surged past Arbok, and into the poised tail that slammed it into the ground. "No! Glameow use Shadow Ball!" Zoey ordered, which Glameow instantly did. The Ghost-type move connected heavily with Arbok´s head, rocking the large serpent backward. "Arbok use Poison Sting!" Jessie countered, and a large shower of venomous barbs shot through the air toward Glameow. 

"Dodge that and use Iron Tail!" Glameow managed with some difficulty to dodge the multitude of barbs, quickly closing in on Arbok afterward. "Counter with Poison Tail!" The two tails slammed into each other, creating a large explosion of smoke. "Glameow use Shadow Claw!" Zoey instantly commanded. The shining purple claw became visible within the smoke cloud before the claw slammed into Arbok sending it backward. "Arbok use Poison Sting!" Jessie ordered, scanning the smoke for a shadow of Glameow. 

The new stream of venomous barbs flooded the entirety of the smoke cloud, forcing Zoey to command a counter from Glameow. "Use Shadow Claw to knock those Poison Stings away and fire a Shadow Ball!" The quick response and execution of Glameow´s Shadow Claw attack made it impossible for Jessie and Arbok to pinpoint her location, though the shining toxin particles made for a pretty sight. The Shadow Ball seemed to gather some of the smoke with it, creating a sort of tail made of smoke. The attack once again crashed into Arbok, rocking it slightly and giving Glameow and opening to exploit.

"Glameow use Fury Swipes into Iron Tail!" Zoey ordered a confident smile on her face. With speed she hadn´t shown before Glameow sprinted out of the smoke cloud, scratching Arbok severely several times before jumping up and flipping forward, slamming its Iron Tail into the top of Arbok´s head. The attack proved too much for Arbok, having taken several powerful attacks in quick succession, and it fell forwards with swirls in its eyes. As the judges´ decision fell quickly, Zoey smiled and hugged her Glameow tightly.

Jessie had a rueful grin on her face, walking calmly over to Arbok and stroking him consolingly over the head. "It´s okay, Arbok. You´re new to this, you just need a little more experience," she comforted the saddened Cobra Pokémon. She stuck her hand out to Zoey, who shook it with respect before Jessie returned Arbok and quickly made her way off the stage. "We have a winner! Zoey Nozomi and her beautiful Glameow have defeated the opposition! Mr. Contesta, the chairman of the PAC, will now speak a few words," the host announced, the energetic young man nearly running off the stage as soon as he finished.

"Congratulations, young lady. You have truly earned this ribbon, through many spectacular battles today. I hope to see you again in other contests in the future, and I wish you well on your travels," Mr. Contesta stated while handing Zoey a small ribbon situated atop a velvet cushion.

As the show had obviously ended most of the crowd quickly got up, vacating the entire stadium within 10 minutes. Ash and Brock sat back in their seats, waiting for most of the crowd to leave before they got up. "That was an amazing performance, wasn´t it?" Ash stated cheerily as he and Brock got to their feet. "Yeah, Zoey really knows how to play to her Pokémon´s strengths," Brock commented. A sudden boom of thunder sounded overhead, making the two young men look at each other. "We should get Dawn and get to the Pokécenter before the rain started coming down hard," Ash stated, Pikachu now back in his rightful place on his shoulder. "That sounds like a good idea," Brock commented, a serious nod accompanying the statement.

The two of them rushed down to the waiting room, where they found Dawn in a conversation with Jessie and Zoey. James sat on one of the couches, relaxing quietly with Meowth at his side. "Eh, girls?" Ash cautiously cut in, hoping they wouldn´t be angry that he interrupted them. Thankfully none of the three seemed to mind, and Dawn responded to him quickly, "Oh, hi Ash. How´s Aipom doing?" "Aipom´s doing fine, but that´s not why I interrupted you. It´s about to rain, heavily. We thought we might want to get to the Pokécenter before it started," he quickly explained, running a hand through his shaggy hair as he did. 

"Oh, Jess and I actually have a reservation at a restaurant," James apologized, before interloping his arm with Jessie´s. "Oh that´s right, we´re going out. Sorry darlings, but it seems we´ll have to talk another time," Jessie responded, a genuine smile on her face as she waved goodbye to the group. Ash nodded, smiling to himself, "Alright, we should really get going if we are to get to the Pokécenter before the rain starts." Locked in their conversation on the way out, Ash and his friends paid no heed to the curious shadows racing across the sky under the cover of darkness.

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, finished another chapter. This one was actually pretty fun to write, if a bit difficult. Contest battles need a bit more…flair, than regular battles and I´m unsure if I managed that. In addition, I had to be a tad** _ **creative**_ **in how I made Ash lose since I didn´t want him to win and yet having him lose a battle seems wrong to me. So, I had him forfeit under the pretense that Aipom was in '** _ **danger**_ **' of getting seriously injured. It was the only way I could think of since he shouldn´t win the ribbon and he is way too experienced to actually lose (though he could have lost due to points).  
**

**I actually remembered something which I find kind of stupid, me being stupid that is, and that´s the fact that I forgot that them being legit trainers now James and Jessie can catch other, non-cannon Pokémon. So, I can take suggestions for non-canon Pokémon for the former Team Rocket.**

 **As for the fact that Jessie´s surname was listed as Kojirō, that is James Japanese name and the one I will be using as their surname. Jessie has it considering in my fic they´re married. Just in case anyone was wondering…**

 **Until next time!**


	12. Road to Oreburgh!

**A/N:**

 **So, I´m back people. Sorry for the wait, but considering I´m attending university and this is one of our busiest times I´m afraid its unavoidable at times. I actually shouldn´t take the time to write this even, but I met a block in my school work and so I´m using this to unwind a little.**

 **Don´t actually have anything else to say, except the usual disclaimer:**

 **I do not own Pokémon or any associated product and this is a purely non-profit fanfiction.**

 **On to the chapter!**

 **Rocky Road to Oreburgh!**

It had been two days since the Jubilife Contest and the group had left early the next day. Currently, they were taking a break under the beaming sun on Route 203, after traveling a fair distance already. Dawn especially seemed to be really fired up for her practice, standing a little ways off from the boys talking to her two Pokémon. While Ash focused on training his newest team members, pairing them with older members of his team who were the same type. Starly flew through the air with Swellow, Shinx practiced with Pikachu and Turtwig was currently trying to match Bayleef with Razor Leaf. "Starly speed it up, try flowing with the wind! Swellow, I think it´s time for Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted up to his two Flying-types. He had opted to return Pidgeot to the Oak Corral, not wanting to be exposed as the one who had gone toe-to-toe with Hunter J.

Out of nowhere, a large Shadow Ball attack seemed to soar toward Starly, causing Ash to roar to Swellow. "Swellow use Wing Attack to bat that away, then the two of you come down here!" He quickly returned the remainder of his Pokémon and called Brock and Dawn over. Soon after Swellow perched on Ash´s right shoulder, Starly on his left and Pikachu stood on top of his head. A moment later a black-haired teenager, with red streaks in the hair, stepped into the meadow. "Where did it go?" she seemed to muse to herself, scratching her hair. When she finally looked straight into Ash´s eyes and to the Swellow on his shoulder, she blushed profusely. "I messed up didn´t I?" she asked embarrassed. She wore a long skirt, with an Alolan flower design, and a short black top that exposed her midriff. By her sides was a large, fat, black Raticate and a large brown-grey lizard-like Pokémon.

"Well seeing as you attacked my Swellow out of nowhere, I´d say so," Ash commented, a lot more relaxed by the single question alone. "Sorry. I´ve always wanted a Swellow, and I thought that it was a wild one," she explained, rubbing the back of her head. "I get wanting a Swellow, but why would you think my Swellow was wild? They don´t generally nest in Sinnoh," Ash asked, looking over to the end of the meadow as he thought he heard a sound. Focusing back on the new arrival after finding only a tree creaking in the wind at the slight gaze. "I know Swellow aren´t native to Sinnoh, but they do migrate each year. This, as it happens, is the migration season," the young girl explained. 

Brock pulled out his Pokégear, obviously going to check if that information was in fact accurate. A slight breeze once again brushed over the meadow, not enough to make the branches creak but the grass rustled nonetheless. The green grass, along with a myriad of different colored flowers, surrounded the small group of people, the wind carrying pollen into the air. The pollen seemed to irritate the stranger´s brown-grey lizard, causing it to sneeze loudly. -I wonder what Pokémon this is? Come to think of it I´ve never seen a Raticate look like that either, Ash thought to himself, as Brock continued to peruse information on his Pokégear.

Ash calmly pulled out his Pokédex and scanned the brown-grey lizard, wanting to hear the Pokédex´s information on the new Pokémon. "Hakamo-o the Scaly Pokémon, and the evolved form of Jangmo-o. This warrior-like Pokémon grind their scales together to create rhythm, which serves as its war cry. It tears its opponent to shreds with the scales on its hands, which it sheds and regrows regularly. These shed scales can be crafted into heat-resistant pots and pans, which are very popular. They are currently only known to reside in Alola," the mechanical voice of the Pokédex whirred into silence. Ash rose an eyebrow, intrigued by the new information. 

He then silently turned to the black Raticate, though he now had an idea what was going on now. "Raticate the Mouse Pokémon, and the evolved form of Rattata. Raticate has two different versions, the mainland Raticate, which is the most common, and the Alolan variant. These mice have webbed feet to swim in rivers and hunt there. This Pokémon can even topple concrete by gnawing on it, which it does to pare them down as they never stop growing. The mainland Raticate is a Normal-type, while the Alolan Raticate is a combined Normal- and Dark-type." The voice whirred out again, but the comparison pictures between mainland and Alolan Raticate remained on the screen. 

Ash grinned, looking up at the new arrival. "I´m going to guess you're an Alola native?" The girl smiled and nodded, scratching the Hakamo-o´s head. "Yeah, I just left Alola after my birthday. I just turned 15, and wanted to see the world," she stated, spinning around with her hands opened wide. "Cool!" Dawn exclaimed, "I´ve always wanted to vacation in Alola!" "Well, Alola is very nice. I´m actually from Melemele Island, and I was starting to get a little tired of hearing all about the outside world from people coming to the Pokémon School," the girl stated, a bit heatedly. Ash laughed a little before he gazed over to Brock. As Swellow still sat on his shoulder, he had to turn all the way around though so it wasn´t at all subtle.

"You found the information yet, Brock?" he asked cheekily, smiling toward the older boy. "Oh, Starly and Swellow return," he added as an afterthought, finally pulling the two Pokémon into their Pokéball and letting Pikachu settle on his right shoulder. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, I found it. She´s right it is migration season at the moment," he stated, casually putting his Pokégear back into its socket on his belt. "Now that I think about it, what´s your name?" Brock asked before he remembered his proper manners. "Oh, excuse me, of course, we should introduce ourselves first. I´m Brock." He then motioned to Dawn first, prompting her to introduce herself. "Oh, I´m Dawn," she casually said, waving slightly. "I´m Ash, and this is my partner, Pikachu," Ash went last, smiling widely.

"My name is Ceraline, but my friends mostly call me Cera," the young girl introduced herself with a slight curtsy. "These as you already know are Hakamo-o and Raticate," she added gesturing to the Pokémon at her sides. The girl sat down on a rock not far from where the group had just engaged in training, and the others joined her to bask in the delightful sunlight of the day. "So Cera, you said you wanted to see the world for yourself, but you never said if you were taking on the Gyms or competing in contests along the way?" Brock asked curiously, calmly releasing Bonsly to feed.

Cera looked up to the sky, a thoughtful look on her face. "I don´t really care about that, I´m not a competitive person. No, what I want is to collect the stories and legends from throughout the world," she stated with a wide grin on her face, pulling out a worn book from her bag. "Like this one, the only known surviving volume of the 'Legend of Salamence´s Grove'," her voice held only adoration as she gazed at the book. "You mean you, a 15-year-old, is traveling around with a priceless artifact? Not that I´ve heard of the legend before mind you, yet that seems a little… I don´t know, irresponsible?" Brock asked, trying his best not to sound in disbelieving or rude. "Hm? Oh, I guess it would be irresponsible, but I can´t send it through the transporters and it needs to get to the Oreburgh Museum," Cera answered with a shrug of her shoulders, not offended in the least.

"What is the 'Legend of Salamence´s Grove'?" Dawn asked curiously, as she had never heard of the story either. "Oh, well I guess the legend is kind of obscure," Cera stated, a hand rubbing the back of her head again. "I´ve heard of it, but I don´t know what it entails," Ash cut in, surprising his companions. The aroma of the many sweet-smelling flowers crossed into the air, rising to the noses of the group. "How did you hear of it, Ash?" Brock asked in disbelief, somewhat certain that it wasn´t during their travels. "I stumbled upon Professor Oak´s collection of stories and fairy tales when I was studying," Ash shrugged his shoulders, "The legend was mentioned in one of them, but nothing specific was said about it. All it said was that the legend originated in Hoenn, I think it said Fallarbor Town so that narrows it down."

"Well that does sound like the correct information," Cera noted, smiling. "The legend speaks of an ancient grove where wild Salamence gathers to breed and raise their young. Can you believe it, a whole colony of Salamence living together? Considering the assumed originator of the legend was a well-known traveler from Fallarbor Town, it´s theorized that the grove might be located in some hidden part of Meteor Falls," Cera told them, mesmerized by the story she had told herself. 

"Well, I see why you want to collect stories, they seem to truly spark your interest," Brock spoke, a friendly smile on his face. "Oh yeah, the stories are truly fascinating, and I love collecting them. Did you know most of the most powerful Pokémon in the regions have actually been worshipped as gods or at the very least demi-gods?" she stated, nodding enthusiastically as she did. "Like the pseudo-legendaries have been the center of their own religions," she continued, her enthusiasm still strong.

"I didn´t know that," Dawn commented, eagerly looking at Cera. Ash got up, only half listening to the two girls eagerly discussing ancient history. From time to time he heard Brock either laugh or joining the discussion, though with much less fervor than Cera. "Come on out again guys!" Ash stated to himself, releasing all his Pokémon to resume their training. "Alright guys, I want to focus a little on Starly´s training. Pikachu and Bayleef, can I trust you to get Shinx and Turtwig up to speed?" The two senior members nodded their head seriously before they fetched their new protégés and started their own autonomous training sessions.

"Swellow, I need you to help get Starly used to Aerial Ace. You up for it?" Ash asked, smiling down at the navy-blue bird. Swellow nodded and took off with a mighty flap of his wings. "Follow on his tail feathers and watch how he performs Aerial Ace, ok?" Ash followed up with instructions to his Starly, whose eyes gleamed at the prospect of becoming more powerful. He shot into the sky, following after Swellow closely to observe everything in close detail.

The two birds soared swiftly through the skies, Starly struggling somewhat to keep up with the more matured Swellow. "Alright, Starly try using Quick Attack to match Swellow´s speed! If you combine the Quick Attack with the energy you use to perform Gust that should replicate Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted up to the two birds flying overhead. A slight chill entered the air, and a larger gust of wind ruffled Ash´s clothes and hair. The wind coming at his Flying-types was a lot more powerful than the one blowing at ground level, and Starly had a hard time staying in the air. In his attempt to stay flying he surrounded himself with energy, suddenly allowing him to cut through the air. The sudden lack of resistance sent Starly hurdling forward, almost crashing into the ground had it not been for him regaining control at the last possible second.

Swellow elegantly followed Starly to the ground, squawking and gesturing as he did. "You did it, Starly! That was Aerial Ace!" Ash exclaimed as he hurried over to where the two birds had landed, checking over Starly to see if he had been injured. Confident that Starly was alright, Ash asked curiously, "Do you remember how you did it?" At Starly´s excited nod, Ash motioned for the two to take to the skies again. "Alright let´s match Aerial Ace with Aerial Ace!" Ash yelled up at them, causing the two to race at an incredible velocity in a circle around the meadow. Try as he might though, Starly simply couldn´t match Swellow´s speed. 

Cera, Dawn, and Brock sat in silence, watching Ash train his Pokémon with smiles on their faces. Even as Ash´s training sessions went on their second hour, and Brock had started to cook lunch, Cera and Dawn still sat patiently waiting for Ash to finish. "Alright, guys! Let´s call it quits for the day! Can´t have you be too tired if you´re needed later," Ash finally called out, shortly before the second hour would be through. Immediately the Pokémon halted their training and headed over to gather by Ash. "So, I´ve been doing a little research and found out that the Oreburgh Gym is headed by a Rock-type specialist. Which means I won´t be using Starly, Swellow or Quilava as they would have a type disadvantage. There is also a good chance that the Pokémon the Gym Leader will us is combined Rock- and Ground-type, which would be problematic for Shinx and Pikachu. That´s why my choices are Bayleef, Croconaw, Turtwig, and Aipom," Ash laid out for them simply, calmly explaining his reasons to the group. 

"Aipom, do you want to try a Gym battle?" Ash asked, even though he knew Aipom had already decided. Sure enough, Aipom shook her head sadly. Ash simply smiled, "I thought that would be the case, maybe we can form a trade to Dawn later? If Dawn catches a Pokémon who is very against contests." Ash smiled encouragingly to the purple monkey before he turned to the remaining three Pokémon. "Alright, that means Turtwig, Bayleef, and Croconaw will be my Pokémon for this Gym. Due to my experience, the handicap many trainers can benefit from is unavailable to me, which means you will be battling the Gym Leader´s ace team. You up for it?" Ash asked seriously, looking down into Turtwig´s determined eyes. The Tiny Leaf Pokémon nodded, looking up at Bayleef and then back at Ash.

"Alright then, we´ll arrive in Oreburgh in a few days. If everything works out, so we still have some time to train before the battle," Ash stated in the end, and let his Pokémon rush to the food. "The food smells delicious, Brock. Is it ready?" Ash asked as he walked closer, and the delightful aroma of Brock´s cooking hit his nose. "Just about," Brock answered, "Cera! Dawn! Are you coming?" The two girls looked at each other and slowly made their way over, along with Hakamo-o and Raticate who were both still outside their Pokéballs. "Am I invited to have lunch with you?" Cera asked confused when she sat down together with the other three. Brock blinked several times, "Oh, I might have forgotten to ask. Well, my intent was to ask if you wanted to eat with us, I´m sure neither Dawn nor Ash has anything against it?" The two shook their head, finding nothing wrong with Cera joining them for lunch.

"Then I´ll release Vulpix to eat too," Cera stated while smiling widely, and allowing her pure white Vulpix to come out of its Pokéball. Ash´s eyes widened slightly as he looked over the new arrival before he ultimately shrugged his shoulders. "I´m guessing this is also an Alolan variant?" Dawn asked curiously, not even thinking of scanning the Pokémon with her Pokédex. Cera smiled widely and scratched the cooing Vulpix behind her ears, "Yep, my little Alolan Vulpix. She hatched not long ago, so I don´t battle with her yet." "So, you do battle with your Pokémon?" Brock asked, "Seeing as how you´re mostly interested in history and not battling I mean?" Cera looked at him, a bit confused. "Of course, I battle all the time. Most of the time the artifact or book I´m trying to retrieve his surrounded by either thieves or wild Pokémon, so I need to fight through it," Cera explained, finally realizing that it wasn't as obvious as she thought it was. 

"Then maybe you´re up for a battle after lunch?" Ash asked, wondering how the Alolan form of Raticate and Hakamo-o battled. "Sure, but let´s talk about something else while we eat," Cera stated, not at all concerned at the challenge. Dawn instantly centered the conversation on Cera´s passion, how she financed her endeavors and how she discovered where to focus her attention. As the lunch drew on, Ash became more and more impatient. Finally asking, "Can we maybe get to battling? We finished eating nearly 20 minutes ago." Cera looked over to him, blinking slightly. "Oh, I´m sorry, it seems I forgot the time," Cera apologized, getting up. "How about a three on three match?" Cera asked, calmly stepping up a distance. Ash rose an eyebrow and gazed over to Hakamo-o and Cera´s two Alolan forms, not seeing a fourth Pokémon. "Sure, but you seem to only have three, and didn´t you yourself say Vulpix wasn´t ready to fight?" Ash answered, a bit confused. "Oh? Right, I use Hakamo-o and my Raticate for most of my battles, and yes Vulpix isn´t old enough to battle. I have two more Pokémon though, my starter and a Pokémon I use mostly for transport," Cera explained.

"Do you want me to judge?" Brock asked, walking up to the two. "Sure, but I think we both will know when one has won the round," Ash stated, smiling at Cera. She smiled back and nodded before Brock spoke. "Alright, this battle will be between Ash and Cera and will be a three on three battle. The winner is decided when all three Pokémon on one side has been defeated," Brock´s voice carried over the meadow, a whistle of wind cutting it at the end. "Choose your first Pokémon!" he ordered, gesturing to both trainers. "Alright, Starly let´s go!" Ash ordered, wanting to allow his newest Flying-type to get its first battle experience against another trainer. "Raticate, let´s go!" Cera shouted her Raticate hopping into the makeshift battle zone. 

"There will be no switching out Pokémon, are both trainers ready?" Brock announced, waiting for affirmatives from both trainers. "Let the battle begin!" Brock shouted, and quickly jumped back to get out of the crossfire. "Start with Aerial Ace!" Starly bounded forward with the white wind energy surrounding it, darting with extreme aim straight toward Raticate. "Raticate fire Shadow Ball!" The ghostly ball of energy slammed into the wind energy, and the explosion that followed sent Starly hurdling backward. "Recover and use Whirlwind, followed by Quick Attack!" Ash ordered calmly, though loudly. Starly strained but managed to straighten out and recover its bearings, beating its wings harshly it forced Raticate backward. Shooting forward the second the whirlwind let up, Starly didn´t give Raticate any time to react. The Quick Attack sent Raticate backward through the air but didn´t knock it out. 

"Use Crunch!" Cera ordered, causing Raticate to jump forward and crashing its fangs into Starly´s wings. "Starly use Wing Attack to toss it off, and follow into Aerial Ace!" Ash shouted a bit more concern in his voice. The following attack managed to dislodge Raticate, and the following Aerial Ace slammed into Raticate´s stomach with a vengeance. "Now use Wing Attack!" "Counter with Iron Tail!" The two attacks clashed forcibly, sending dust everywhere as a pressure wave flew through the air from the impact of wing on tail. When the dust settled both Pokémon were breathing heavily, but both were still standing. A few moments later Raticate fell forward with swirls in its eyes, making Brock announce, "Raticate is unable to battle, the winner of the round is Star…" He never had time to finish the sentence as Starly started glowing with a bright light, growing in size at the same time. When the bright light settled, in Starly´s place stood a larger bird. "Staravia!" it screeched, spreading its wings wide to show its improved power.

"The winner of the round is Staravia. Cera choose your second Pokémon!" Brock announced after the spectacle had finished. Cera smiled sadly and returned Raticate, "You fought well my friend. Well, my second Pokémon will be Hakamo-o!" The grey-lizard walked into the battle zone, facing down the newly evolved Staravia without fear at all. "Let the battle begin!" "Staravia move back and use Whirlwind!" The black and grey bird hurriedly flew away from Hakamo-o, but instead of using Whirlwind it sent a powerful Air Cutter attack toward its opponent. "Use Dragonbreath!" The large wave of green air easily overcame the attack of the tired bird and crashed into Staravia full-force. 

Already tired from its previous battle Staravia fell to the ground utterly defeated, as a slight breeze rustled the grass somberly. "You did well, Staravia. Come back here and get a good rest," Ash smiled at his fallen Pokémon as he returned it. -Dragonbreath, huh? Probably means that it's a Dragon-type, but why wouldn´t my Pokédex tell me? Ash thought to himself. -No matter, he finished his thought and decided on his new Pokémon. "Croconaw I choose you!" he said audibly, releasing the blue and yellow skinned Pokémon. 

Appearing in the middle of the field Croconaw stood sternly with its arms folded, glaring at Hakamo-o. "Let the round begin!" Brock announced, realizing a bit too late that they were waiting for him. "Croconaw start off with Ice Beam!" Ash ordered immediately. "Dodge that and use Cross Chop!" Way faster than Ash thought the large lizard could move, it sprang to the side to dodge the attack. Moments later it had closed the gap and was nearing Croconaw with its Cross Chop, only to suddenly be stopped by Croconaw´s Ice Punch. Ash hadn´t ordered the move, but Croconaw knew how its trainer usually handled these situations and acted accordingly.

The attack started freezing Hakamo-o´s hands together, large sheets of ice forming from the point of impact. "Use Iron Tail!" Ash roared, not angrily but still with authority clear in his voice. Croconaw instantly spun, using his tail as leverage to exert more force, slamming the attack into Hakamo-o´s side. The Dragon-type flew to the side, crashing into the ground as it landed. "Use Ice Fang to finish this up," Ash ordered, confident that Croconaw could finish it. Intent on following his trainer´s command Croconaw sprang forward and crunched down into Hakamo-o´s side. The ice spread quickly from Croconaw´s frozen fangs, freezing a majority of Hakamo-o. "Toss him!"

Quickly obeying Croconaw spun, tossing Hakamo-o onto the ground in front of Cera where it landed knocked out cold. "All right!" Ash cheered. Cera smiled sadly at Hakamo-o, returning the downed Pokémon. "You definitely have a talent for this, Ash. I´m pretty sure my starter can´t beat Croconaw, but that doesn´t mean we won´t try. Torracat let´s go!" she spoke, releasing her starter. The black and red cat Pokémon stretched lazily as it appeared, its large grinning jaw opened in a massive yawn.

"Torracat?" Ash spoke quietly to himself, pulling his Pokédex from his pocket once again. The metallic voice of his Pokémon encyclopedia whirred out in a monotone, somewhat hidden by a sharp whistle of the wind. "Torracat the Fire Cat Pokémon, and the evolved form of Litten. Torracat is a powerful Pokémon, who can bend iron in a single swipe of its claws. A healthy and happy Torracat will have slightly protruding fur, while when the fur lies flat the Torracat is not feeling well. Under its neck hangs a bell full of fire, which will ring clearly when Torracat uses any Fire-attacks. Torracat´s evolution line is used as the Fire-type starter of the Alola region." With its piece said the metallic voice whirred out of existence, and Ash replaced the Pokédex back into his pocket. 

"Alright, Croconaw use Water Gun!" Ash said loudly, intent on testing Torracat´s capabilities before committing to more powerful attacks. "Dodge that and retaliate with Shadow Claw!" Cera calmly responded, immediately spurring Torracat into action. When the Water Gun was just a mere moment from hitting, Torracat threw itself to the side and soared forward in an impressive burst of speed. The Shadow Claw didn´t meet its target squarely though, as Croconaw had without orders used Ice Punch as a means of defense. The ensuing explosion of steam sending both combatants skidding backward, both retaining no significant damage from the exchange. 

-It´s fast, Ash thought to himself, a slight smirk making its way onto his face. "Croconaw let´s go for Aqua Jet!" he ordered a second later, and a moment later Croconaw sped toward Torracat. "Evaporate that water with Heat Wave, and use Crunch!" Cera countered, a slight grimace of concern on her face as she said it. The powerful Heat Wave managed to make the Aqua Jet go up in steam, though the Crunch didn´t land. Croconaw, at the last possible second, had jumped to the side, and with a quick three-step rhythm created a suitable distance between the two. The movement took Cera by surprise, "Is Croconaw dancing?!" she exclaimed in surprise, not fully knowing how to take it. Ash smirked lightly, "Yep. Croconaw has always enjoyed dancing, ever since he was a Totodile actually." He gestured to Croconaw, who fired a massive Hydro Pump. Taken by surprise at the attack, mostly since the order wasn´t given audibly, Torracat didn´t have time to react and was hit directly by the powerful attack. "Alright! Let´s end this! Aqua Jet into Aqua Tail!" Ash ordered a certain note of finality to his voice. 

The impact of Croconaw´s Aqua Jet sent up a massive dust cloud, obscuring the two Pokémon and only the fact that a small wave of water came out of the dust cloud signified that Croconaw had followed through with Aqua Tail. When the dust settled Croconaw stood above the downed and out Torracat, his arms crossed and a large grin on his face. "Great work, Croconaw. The rhythm of dance work well for dodging, don´t you think?" Ash praised as he walked calmly over to his victorious Pokémon. Cera had already gotten to Torracat´s side, the two Pokémon being closer to her side, and was checking her starter for any more serious injuries. Not finding any she gave a sigh of relief before she smiled at Ash. "You truly are a powerful battler, I didn´t think you would defeat me so easily," Cera conceded her defeat with grace, knowing she had been outclassed. 

Ash chuckled slightly to himself, an embarrassed grin on his face, "Well, I have been told that I have a passion for battling that far exceed the average trainer. And Croconaw is one of my more powerful Pokémon." The last statement he had added as an afterthought, not fully intending to say it before it had left his mouth. "So what are you going to do now? You´re free to travel with us until we reach Oreburgh," Brock asked, cutting into their conversation for the first time since they had started their battle. Even though he was supposed to be their judge he hadn´t made any calls as it was obvious the two trainers hadn´t really needed one, so he had spent the battle explaining things to Dawn. 

Cera laughed merrily and smiled to the three, "I appreciate the offer, but I´m afraid I have to decline. I need to get to Oreburgh before the day is fully over, and as the sun is starting to set…I might need to hurry." She seemed a tad sheepish as she finished, not having been fully aware of how long they had battled before the end. "Well then we will see you some other time I´m sure," Dawn stated, a gentle smile on her face. "I´m sure you will. I plan to find a lot of hidden secrets before I leave Sinnoh," Cera laughed, returning Torracat with a gentle smile towards him. "Mudsdale, let´s go!" she quickly followed up, releasing what for all intents and purposes seemed like a slightly muddy Rapidash without the flames. She leaped onto its back and sped off, shouting back at them. "Thank you for the meal and the battle! I´ll see you around!" Ash didn´t even have time to scan the new Pokémon before Cera had disappeared into the forest line in the direction of Oreburgh. "Oh well, can´t get everything at once," Ash sighed, shrugging his shoulder. 

"So, should we get going?" he asked, calmly gathering his stuff. Brock shook his head fondly, "Never change, Ash. Never change."

 **A/N:**

 **Hi guys, so I just wanted to tell you a couple of things. One of which is that I for the life of me can´t remember if I stated Swellow´s gender before this chapter. Ash´s Swellow is a male, and if I´ve stated otherwise in any other chapters I do apologize.**

 **Also, Cera is obviously an OC. I have sort of a plan that involves them meeting her again, not entirely sure yet. One of the reasons that she was included in this chapter is that I need OC´s and non-canon events to take the place of the Team Rocket events that obviously won´t happen. So yeah, that´s why I create a lot of OC and non-canonical events. Sorry if some of you don´t appreciate that.**

 **And before someone comments on that, yes I´m aware that the chapter is very short for having taken so long. As I said I´m in a very stressful period in my schoolwork, and I must admit that I have had both writer's block and problems with motivation.  
**

**Well, I hope it won´t take this long till next time. And I hope you will still come back to read the next chapter.**

 **Till then!**


	13. Fossilized Fury!

**A/N:**

 **So, I´ve started this chapter not long after the other went up. A bit because I actually have the time right now, as I only have two things left to finish this year and a little because I wanted to. Mostly I feel bad I used a month to get the other chapter up, and I don´t like that feeling at all. Therefore, I´ll be trying to use less time this time.**

 **NovmanceR:** **I know Starly is part Normal-type, the Shadow Ball didn´t injure Starly. The explosion that followed the Ghost-type attack hitting the Flying-type energy surrounding Starly injured it, the Shadow Ball never directly touched Starly at all. I guess I didn´t convey that as well as I had thought, my apologies for the misunderstanding. In addition, has the anime never let an attack that should be completely resisted affect a Pokémon? Cause I seem to remember Pikachu using Electric-type attacks against Ground-types, so I do have a precedent that I can quote. Though as stated, the Ghost-type energy of Shadow Ball connected with the Flying-type energy in Aerial Ace, not with Starly at all.**

 **Well, I guess I need to say it again (Is it really necessary to say it every time?):** **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products, nor do I do this for any sort of profit.**

 **Onwards to the chapter, I suppose then.**

 **Fossilized Fury!**

Two days later, in the early hours of the morning, the group of three walked into Oreburgh City, talking idly amongst themselves. "So, what is the first thing we´re doing?" Ash asked, a bit curious what the others wanted. Brock rose an eyebrow at that, "You´re not running straight for the Gym? That´s definitely new." Ash blushed slightly and chuckled in embarrassment, a hand casually rubbing the back of his head. "The Gym doesn´t open till a bit after noon, and considering its nine in the morning I´d say we have time before that happens. Besides there is no guarantee that my battle will be today, Gym Leaders do have more responsibilities than just their Gyms as you well know," he answered casually, a tired smile on his face. The response simply made Brock laugh heartily, knowing full well what Ash was referring to.

"Then maybe we should check out the museum?" Dawn asked, "Cera might be there still after all." Ash shrugged his shoulders, he hadn´t really become a friend of Cera in the day Cera had spent with them, unlike Dawn. Not really having anything better to do though, the trio made way for the museum. As they arrived, the sight of a large mass of people made itself known. The sight puzzled Ash, as it wasn´t often something drew the attention of such a large mass of people. He slowly made his way over, not fully knowing what was going on. Dawn and Brock followed, curiosity getting the better of them as well. In the middle of the amassed group of people was a slightly older teenager than Ash, staring heatedly at someone Ash and Dawn recognized, Paul. The older teen, though Ash realized he wasn´t necessarily more than a year older than him, wore a red mining helmet with a rather large flashlight mounted on the forehead. The rest of his attire suggested that the young man worked quite often in the coal mine that Oreburgh was known for, his auburn hair being covered in soot and more than one speck of dirt covering his clothes.

Coming closer, Ash could hear that the auburn-haired young man was shouting at Paul, rather angrily as well. "…do not care if they are outside of the restricted areas! It isn´t allowed to capture any of the Pokémon belonging to the APEO without going through the process, which you haven´t!" Paul stood there, stoically taking the verbal abuse from someone who was obviously wrought with something he had done or attempted. Judging by the slightly scared Pokémon hiding behind the auburn-haired man´s leg, Ash would say Paul had attempted to capture it. "Therefore, you don´t have the authorization to catch any of the Pokémon here. Much less trying to capture _my_ Cranidos!" the young man roared, a few strands of spittle flying from his mouth as he did.

-Yikes. Paul tried capturing this guy´s Pokémon? No wonder he´s furious, Ash thought to himself. "Why is he so upset? It isn´t possible to capture an already captured Pokémon is it?" Dawn asked quietly, purposely lowering her voice so only Ash and Brock heard her. "Actually, that is just a common misconception," Brock whispered back, before continuing his explanation. "There exist Pokéballs that can capture an already captured Pokémon, they just aren´t legal or available to the public. I know for a fact that Team Rocket has somehow made a Pokéball capable of overriding the official Pokéballs, though I don´t know how." Dawn narrowed her eyes, absentmindedly lowering her hand to her own Pokémon.

"Paul doesn´t have one of those Pokéballs," Ash stated confidently, not wavering in his belief in the slightest. "He might be an arrogant ass, and hard on his Pokémon to boot, but he isn´t a thief," he explained, upon seeing Dawn´s questioning look. Only a few moments later the auburn-haired teen dismissed Paul, with the words, "You already have your badge, perhaps it´d be best if you left Oreburgh. Today." Paul stoically nodded, and simply left the crowd behind. Ash smiled as he realized who the young man was, the Gym Leader. "Excuse me," he spoke, walking forward. "Am I correct in believing you are the Oreburgh Gym Leader?" he asked, watching the young man looking over his Pokémon. As the presumed Gym Leader got up and looked into his eyes, Ash got his answer, "Yes, I am. The name´s Roark, Roark Tougan to be precise. Can I assume you´re a challenger?" Ash nodded, "I am. As far as I remember reading the Oreburgh Gym opens at one in the afternoon?" 

"Usually it does yes, but unfortunately that isn´t the case today. We recently discovered a fossil in the coal deposits, so in my capacity of foreman of the APEO I have to be present for the resurrection attempt." That caught Dawn´s attention, "Resurrection attempt? And what is the APEO?" Before Roark could give an answer, the sound of engines was heard from the depths of the mine. Followed shortly after by the appearance of a truck slowly driving out of the mine, careful not to get a bumpy ride. On it´s back was a rather large rock formation, where Ash and Brock could both make out three distinct fossils. "Cool, two Dome fossils and a Helix fossil, right?" Brock asked, walking closer to inspect the fossils as the truck stopped in front of them.

Roark´s eyes widened, not prepared for some random trainers to be able to recognize the fossils in the formation. "That´s right, do you have any experience with fossils?" Roark asked, curious as to how these two knew which fossils were present. Ash and Brock looked at each other with fond smiles, remembering their travels. "A few instances, but nothing too major. Well, if we don´t count Grandpa Canyon," Ash stated, cringing upon remembering the violent Aerodactyl they found within the canyon. Picking up on the cringe, Roark couldn´t help but ask. "A bad experience?" Brock laughed loudly, slapping Ash on the back. Ash did answer though, "We found some live ancient Pokémon in a huge cavern when an explosion occurred in the canyon where we were digging. The Aerodactyl wasn´t pleasant." A sad smile crossed Ash´s face, remembering how the situation shaped his relationship with Charizard for a long time.

Roark´s eyes widened once again, not fully believing yet not having any grounds to refute their statements. "Perhaps you might like a tour of the Ancient Preserve?" Roark asked easily, smiling at the shocked look on Dawn´s face. "Didn´t you just berate Paul for something similar to that?" Dawn asked cautiously, a slight grimace on her face. Roark´s expression soured a bit, before he smiled again, "Not exactly. Paul tried capturing one of the resurrected Pokémon without the proper authorization, on top of it being my own Pokémon. I´m only asking if you want to see them, sort of like a museum tour." Realizing Roark was giving them a once in a lifetime chance, at least in Dawn´s eyes, she instantly agreed. Ash and Brock looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, they had nothing against letting Dawn take the lead for the day.

"Oh, and I think you asked what the APEO is?" Roark asked for clarification. "Yes, I did, I don´t think I´ve heard of it before," Dawn answered, a thoughtful look on her face. "It stands for 'Ancient Pokémon Exploration Operations', which is what we do. We explore the ways ancient Pokémon lived and how they function as opposed to the Pokémon that aren´t for all intents and purposes extinct." That seemed to clear things up for Dawn, as a bright smile made its way onto her face.

The trio followed Roark to the museum, listening to his explanations of how the Ancient Preserve worked as they walked. "I have to ask you to remain silent when we enter, the scientists have to be focused on the process if we want to succeed," Roark commented before they entered the laboratory. Smiling widely at getting to watch something few had ever been present for, Dawn agreed readily with Ash and Brock silently nodding their consent. The room was a completely sterile white environment, devoid of any dust at all. Several people in white coats were inside the room, concentrated on the machines in front of them. Most seemed to be situated around a large machine with a large glass panel in its side, the large rock with the fossils located directly beside it at the moment. Two men were carefully prying the fossils out of the rock, with steady hands and delicate, precise chiseling.

When the first fossil was dislodged it was carried over to the machine and laid down upon the band that slowly whirred to life and brought the fossil into the machine. "Start the process," one of the scientists curtly spoke, and a few of the other started typing. Within a few moments a bright light had obscured the inside of the machine, and when the light finally subsided several minutes later, a Kabuto was seen scurrying inside the machine. One of the scientists slowly and carefully picked the newly revived Pokémon up and made his way out a door close by. Roark signaled the three to follow him and followed the scientist out the same door. 

The new room they arrived in was vastly different than the one they had just been in, as it was a large greenhouse complete with what Dawn assumed was a prehistoric environment. She could make out a few Pokémon walking among the trees, and a few swimming in the man-made river. "This is the Ancient Preserve, where the revived fossil Pokémon are all kept," Roark explained, though he still kept his voice low. "It´s magnificent," Dawn gasped, as she looked around. The trees seemed like an ancient variety of palm trees, and the trio could see several different fruits and berries they hadn´t seen before. The smells within the greenhouse were intense, mostly a husky smell vaguely reminiscent of the sweet scent of Oran berries. 

The trio followed the Gym Leader turned guide further into the Preserve, Dawn gazing upon every Pokémon within with great curiosity. -I have a bad feeling about this, Ash thought to himself. He didn´t know why he suddenly started getting a bad feeling, but knowing that his gut usually had the right of it he decided to get ready for whatever was about to happen. Perhaps he should be glad that his gut seemed to be wrong for once when they left the Preserve nearly two hours later, but it only increased the foreboding feeling. "I´ll meet you at the Pokécenter later, ok? I have something I need to do," he excused himself, leaving the other three. 

As it happened it turned out Ash´s gut feeling had been correct, and a rather large explosion occurred only moments later. "Dawn, come on! We need to get to the Preserve, I can guarantee Ash will meet us there!" Brock shouted to their female companion, as he started to run toward the museum and the APEO center that was closely attached to it. Upon arriving at the scene, Brock saw Roark in a stand-off with a silver-haired woman wearing a vizor over her face. "I should have guessed it would only be a question of time before you tried stealing some of the ancient Pokémon, Hunter J!" Roark yelled, a deep ice-cold fury in his voice. It did little to Hunter J, who simply laughed sarcastically toward the young man. "You really should have. These Pokémon sell for fortunes," she responded, a gloating tone in her voice as if she had already gotten away with stealing them.

In front of Roark stood the same grey and blue Pokémon from earlier in the day, though it seemed a bit worse for wear. Staring it down was Hunter J´s Pokémon, a Drapion, an Ariados, and a Mightyena, not to mention J´s Salamence which she currently stood upon. -Damn, this is going to be tough, Brock thought to himself. "Steelix, let´s go!" he roared, entering the combat to help Roark beat the Pokémon Hunter back. Hunter J clicked her teeth, frustrated at the further obstacle she had to remove. "Why is it I am again interrupted by teenagers?" Hunter J lamented her bad luck before she opened her mouth to speak again. "Because we won´t let you just do whatever you want?" Brock heard Ash´s voice state furiously from somewhere above. Hunter J seemed to recognize the voice since she spun around to look at him. Seeing him upon a Pokémon she hadn´t seen him use before, she gritted her teeth. 

"So, your Pidgeot managed to save you, then?" she spat angrily at him. Ash simple narrowed his eyes and glared at her from atop his Pokémon, furious at meeting the Pokémon Hunter again so soon. Beneath them, the revived fossil Pokémon had been whipped into a frenzy by the explosion and several of them had already escaped the Preserve, running wild throughout the city. "Roark! Brock! Go help the city, and stop the Pokémon. I can handle her," Ash shouted down at the two, his furious gaze still locked on Hunter J. "On it, Ash!" Brock shouted back, confident that he could leave this to Ash.

Roark though seemed a bit more reluctant, but a brief glance from Brock had him also nodding and moving toward the city. "You can handle me? That didn´t go too well for you last time did it?" Hunter J laughed patronizingly, sneering at him. "Last time you contended with Pidgeot, who might be powerful in her own right. She has nothing on Charizard here though," Ash stated with pride in his voice, patting Charizard´s neck. He had been surprised himself when he had decided to send Swellow back and bring Charizard over, perhaps more surprised than Liza and Charizard had been. -Good thing I´ve learned to trust my gut, Ash thought to himself. Hunter J´s eyes narrowed, and a drop of sweat trickled down her face.

"Salamence start off with Dragonbreath!" she finally decided to start their battle, attacking rather than defending. Ash smirked from atop Charizard, "Dodge and use Flamethrower to take out the three on the ground!" With a speed that seemed impossible for a Pokémon of Charizard´s size, he dodged and followed up with a scorching Flamethrower that instantly took Ariados, Mightyena, and Drapion out of the fight. "What?!" J exclaimed, shocked at the power Charizard displayed so easily. In a moment of clarity, Hunter J decided that battling this trainer would only result in her capture and hightailed it out of there. She did manage to return her three fallen as she escaped, despite Ash giving chase immediately. 

"Golbat get out here and use Haze!" she screamed as Ash began catching up, finally losing him as a result of the fog that instantly sprang up. Ash roared in furious anger upon losing the Hunter for the second time, an unintelligible roar of simple fury. "Charizard take me back to the city, they probably need help," Ash finally managed to grit out, understanding that he couldn´t give further chase. -I swear next time I´m bringing you down Hunter J, he thought to himself. He touched the ground a little bit outside of Oreburgh and returned Charizard before sprinting into the city. Seeing a police officer he shouted quickly, "Do you know if there are more fossil Pokémon running wild?!" His answer was quick and curt, "Two Kabutops and an Armaldo over by the coal mine. Roark and another trainer are on their way there, might need another hand!"

Ash nodded and set course for the mine, jumping over several piles of rubble on his way. Roark and Brock were already present when Ash arrived only a few short minutes later, Roark using a larger Pokémon, with a slight resemblance to Cranidos, and Brock using Steelix. -Roark´s Cranidos must have evolved, Ash thought to himself before he squashed that line of thought and focused at the task at hand. "Pikachu use Thunder!" he roared, a fair amount of anger still in his system. The large, powerful cascade of lightning slammed into one of the Kabutops, sending it careening back into the mountainside. Focusing solely on the battle ahead of him, Ash let Brock and Roark take the other two Pokémon.

Proving just why the fossil Pokémon where sought after, the powerful prehistoric juggernaut got up and shrugged off the damage from the super effective attack. Brandishing its blades threateningly toward Pikachu, it seemed to slip into a battle stance clearly ready to battle. When its blade seemed to take on an eerie black shine the next moment, Ash realized it was attacking with Night Slash. "Counter that with Iron Tail!" The two attacks slammed into each other with such force that the rocks spread across the ground were sent flying by the pressure wave, and would have sprayed over anyone close by if the area hadn´t been deserted except for the three trainers. -Where is Dawn? She shouldn´t be out during this, Ash thought to himself, worried about his newest companion. 

"Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded, seeing the Kabutops shoot forward in an Aqua Jet attack. The Electric-type attacked pushed Kabutops backward, though it didn´t seem to do much in terms of damage. -A furious fossil Pokémon is dangerous beyond measure, the thought bouncing from wall to wall inside Ash´s brain. "Attack with Volt Tackle!" he ordered, trying to force Kabutops back. While the attack did find its mark, it again did thoroughly little to the rampaging Pokémon. "What does it take to beat this thing back!?" Ash roared rhetorically, annoyed at the Pokémon´s stubborn nature. "Alright, use Iron Tail into Thunderbolt! Then follow up with Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered, giving Pikachu one of his most powerful chain attacks.

The Iron Tail was met by a Brick Break that sent Pikachu hurdling into the sky, into a perfect position to fire off the Thunderbolt. The attack his Kabutops uninterrupted, causing the prehistoric hunter to finally roar in pain at the super effective attack. Followed shortly by another, as Pikachu´s Volt Tackle slammed into its stomach and sent it flying into the mountainside again. Still, it wasn´t enough to keep the stubborn, and still very much furious, Pokémon down, as Kabutops rose to his feet again. The rocks floating behind it alerted Ash to the fact that it was using Ancient Power, so he managed to roar to Pikachu just in time. "Use Iron Tail to deflect the rocks!" Pikachu´s mighty tail managed to shatter three of the rocks before the fourth struck him in the abdomen, sending him crashing into the ground beside Ash. 

"This is ridiculous," Ash moaned, "I mean we´ve beat legendaries, why is this one fossil Pokémon not staying down!?" "Pi-pikapi-pikachu," Pikachu answered, gritting his teeth as he pushed himself up. Ash laughed loudly, "Alright let´s just bring him down. Use Electro Ball!" "Pika!" Pikachu roared, as the large orb of electric energy left his tail on its way to its target. "Let´s follow up with Wild Charge!" Ash commanded. The sulfuric smell of the constant use of electric attacks had started to irritate his nose, and the strong smell brought tears to his eyes. He forced himself to focus despite this and could hear the loud cacophony as the Electro Ball hit Kabutops. Moments later, Pikachu charged straight into Kabutops´ side. As Kabutops tumbled to the side, Ash continued his onslaught of attacks. "Let´s go with Thunderbolt once again!"

-I can´t use Volt Tackle or Wild Charge too much, those attacks take a lot out of Pikachu, he thought desperately. Finally, he seemed to make headway, as Kabutops screeched in pain at being hit by the Thunderbolt. It didn´t fall down but remained standing in position, panting heavily with exhaustion. It raised its head and gazed defiantly on Ash and Pikachu before it advanced one last time toward Pikachu. "It´s using Night Slash, let´s match it with Iron Tail. You up for it, Pikachu?" Ash smirked confidently, the match drawing to a close. Pikachu nodded and leaped forward, encasing his tail in the signature glow of the Steel-type move. The two Pokémon met their attacks thrice in the span of just as many seconds, both sustaining minor damage before Pikachu deflected Kabutops´ Night Slash into the ground and slammed his tail into its head. 

Falling onto its side and remaining still, completely knocked out, Kabutops had proven to be one of the most powerful Pokémon Pikachu had gone against so far. Glancing over to Roark and Brock, Ash saw that the two wasn´t fully finished with their battles yet. Too exhausted by the events of the day to join in, Ash sat down to gaze over at the battles. Roark finished his battle a few moments later, his Pokémon, Rampardos apparently, slammed the other Kabutops into the ground with Zen Headbutt and knocked it out cold. Brock managed to get Steelix to send Armaldo flying over to Rampardos around five minutes later, and Roark had Rampardos end that battle to with a Zen Headbutt.

Ash got up and calmly walked over to the two trainers. "These prehistoric Pokémon are really tough, Roark. I see why you use them in your battles," he commented with a grin. Roark smiled gently back, "Yeah, they really are powerful. Did you get Hunter J?" Ash grit his teeth, before sadly shaking his head in the negative. "She got away, but I´m fairly sure she didn´t get any of the Pokémon with her," he answered audibly after a few moments thought. "Argh, she got away again, huh? She always manages to get away," Roark stated sadly, before cursing under his breath. Bringing his phone out, Roark called the extraction team from the APEO to come to pick up the fossil Pokémon. 

"These three were the last ones, most of the other Pokémon didn´t rampage and the few that did have already been recollected," Roark stated with a relieved smile on his face after he had hung up on the phone. "Hunter J seemed to recognize you, any particular reason for that?" Roark asked, sitting down heavily on a piece of rock that had been blown apart as a result of one of the three battles. "Remember that news report of a Kanto native who battled J´s Salamence with a Pidgeot?" Ash asked, leading Roark into the answer of his own question. "That was you then?" Roark asked, seemingly more to verify what he had figured. Ash nodded tiredly, "This is the second time I´ve battled her, and she managed to flee from me again. Even when I had Charizard here she managed to get away," Ash complained, picking up a small rock and tossing into over the quarry.

"Hah, you aren´t the only one she has fled from," Roark barked out, a bit of mirth in his voice despite the situation. "She somehow managed to flee from Lucian, not too long ago. He was livid, I think it´s the only time I´ve heard of Lucian losing the fine control of his temper." Ash rose an eyebrow, trying to recollect who Lucian was. "Lucian of the Elite Four?" he asked finally, not coming up with any other answers. Roark nodded solemnly before he gestured to a police officer not far from them. "Hey, get us some water, would you? My throat is dry." With a nod the police officer left to fetch them some water, coming back shortly thereafter with three bottles of water and Dawn following him. 

Seeing the destruction around them, Dawn whistled a sharp and long tune. "This day could have gone better couldn´t it?" the rhetorical question sent the three young men into uncontrollable fits of laughter. "Yes, yes it could. Perhaps it will be better tomorrow though. You think there´s a possibility for a Gym Battle tomorrow?" Ash commented, finishing with a question towards Roark. "I think so, but it will be closer to the evening," he answered affirmatively. "Then we´ll see you tomorrow. I need some sleep," Ash stated, getting up and heading toward the Pokécenter.

 **A/N:**

 **This is what happens when I have the motivation to write, and a sort of plan of what I want to write. Charizard won´t be staying, just so you know. I just felt Ash would have some sort of gut feeling of when things would go south, and it gave me an opportunity. I took it, shamelessly.**

 **As for Hunter J running, Ash nearly beat her with a Pidgeot. Charizard is visibly way more powerful, wouldn´t you run? Next chapter I finally get to the Oreburgh Gym Battle. 13 chapters, and approximately 70k words before the first Gym Battle. Delightful.**

 **Anyways, till next time! Whenever that might be!**


	14. The Battle for the Badge!

**A/N:**

 **I´m stressed right now, a bit furious really, so I do apologize if what I write takes on certain characteristics I don´t usually let influence my writing. I will try to keep them out, but I make no promises.**

 **I´ve found that writing this fanfic helps me calm down, funnily enough.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Pokémon or any associated product, and receive no profit for writing this.**

 **Let´s move on to the chapter!**

 **The battle for the Badge!  
**

The following morning Ash woke up late, his entire body aching as he slowly and groggily got up. The events of yesterday had taken a lot out of him, a few bruises making their appearance here and there on his body. As he reached for his clothes his own body odor slammed into his nose with the force of a knockout punch, causing him to grimace. -Shower first, he immediately decided for himself. Swiftly leaving his bed behind and walking into the bathroom, he rid himself of his clothes laying them carefully on the bathroom counter. Turning the water on he quickly stepped into the shower, letting the ice-cold water hit him. Slowly a bit of his aching started to disappear, becoming bearable before he stepped out of the shower. He grabbed a towel, which he tied around his waist, picked up his worn clothes and stepped into his room. 

Finding the space in his bag he had reserved for worn clothing until it could be cleaned, he carefully packed the clothes into it. As he finished finding his new clothes and had just pulled his boxers into place, Dawn came into the room, forgetting to knock. The two of them stared at each other, both frozen in shock. Finally, Dawn blushed immensely, let out a whine and retreated from the room in a sprint. Getting over his shock upon hearing Dawn run down the corridor, Ash shrugged his shoulders and pulled his pants onto his legs, followed shortly by his socks. Just before he pulled his new top over his head, Brock came up to check on him. "I heard Dawn got an eyeful?" he teased good-naturedly. Ash chuckled a little, "She forgot to knock. I consider us lucky, had she been a moment earlier I wouldn´t have even my boxers on." 

Brock laughed at that, before stepping closer. "Let´s take a look on those ribs, shall we?" he commented before he carefully checked on the bruises on Ash´s upper body. Where the bandages had been it was apparent that the bruising on Ash´s ribs were better, though it was still a light blue color to the area. "I think we can let this breath, so no bandages," Brock stated, but continued upon seeing Ash´s smile, "But you will still need to take it easy." Ash nodded, before grabbing his top and dragging it over his head. "By the way, where did you get those scars?" Brock asked him, having noticed the scars and not being able to figure where they came from. Ash looked into his eyes and smiled, "I got them all during my training."

"What does that mean?" Brock asked curiously as the two of them moved into the common areas of the Pokécenter. "The ones on my stomach and right arm came from an Ursaring, who didn´t appreciate my presence in his territory. This one," Ash gestured to the nick on his cheek, "came from an overzealous Sneasel. Oh, and I have a scar from a Donphan tusk on my left thigh." The new information seemed to only make Brock even more curious, "And how did you manage to acquire these scars?" Ash grinned at him, "As I said, training. I trained on Mt. Silver for a couple of months before coming here." In the lobby of the Pokécenter, a still embarrassed Dawn was waiting for them, a fierce blush present on her face as she looked at Ash. "I…I´m sorry," she managed to squeak out before she once again had to avert her gaze with a red face. 

Ash just laughed, not at all embarrassed. "It doesn´t matter too much to me, I was just taken by surprise," he commented cheekily, teasing the already flushed girl. "Did you ever find Cera yesterday?" he changed the subject, knowing not to push the girl too far less he wanted her to get angry. Dawn perked up at that but shook her head. The day before, after the whole rampaging ancient Pokémon scenario, Dawn had decided to look for Cera while Ash and Brock got some rest. "No, the museum director said she had already moved on. Something about a lead toward another ancient tome," she answered, a slight chuckle accompanying her statement. 

"Oh, that´s too bad. Well, we might see her again later in our journey," Ash stated, knowing Dawn had looked forward to talking some more with Cera. "Right now, though I´m looking forward to my Gym Battle," he continued, visibly eager to get started. "First things to do today is getting some food," Brock cut in, his voice stern. As if to say it agreed with him, Ash´s stomach chose that exact moment to rumble. A nervous chuckle escaped Ash´s throat, "Well, I haven´t eaten since breakfast yesterday. I´m definitely up for some grub."

It took Brock less than 20 minutes to have something thrown together, which he delivered to their table from the kitchen. When the meal was finished about 15 minutes later, Ash smiled widely in appreciation. "A fantastic meal as always, Brock!" he commented, the smile proving contagious as both Dawn and Brock soon sported their own smiles. Ash seemed to take a second to think, before he finally stated calmly, "We should go check if Roark and the others need a hand in the rebuilding." While Brock rose his eyebrows at the sudden comment, both he and Dawn nodded their agreement. "Alright, but give me about 10 minutes first. I need to clean this," he gestured to the plates and cooking utensils.

They arrived at the Ancient Preserve about 20 minutes later, having walked quite calmly and not rushing in the slightest to get to there. In front of the still mostly collapsed wall Roark stood assessing the damage, with a man in a suit standing beside him taking pictures with a very expensive looking camera. "So, what do you think?" the trio heard Roark ask, while they were still a short bit away. "I think that the insurance does cover it, but I doubt the company ever thought they would cash out on 'Explosion Insurance' for a museum," the man in the suit answered, a huge grin on his face.

The comment caused Roark to laugh loudly, "I did tell them why I needed the insurance, I just always thought the explosion would happen from the inside and out." The photographer shrugged his shoulders, before moving on to take a couple of pictures of the other side. "Morning Roark!" Ash greeted the young Gym Leader, walking up to him calmly. Roark turned around to gaze upon the three of them with an eyebrow already raised, "Morning? It´s two o´clock, so it should really be afternoon," he commented, with a teasing smirk on his face. Blinking slightly at the joke Ash checked his X-Transceiver for the time and found that it was indeed two in the afternoon. "Huh, guess you´re right. Afternoon, then," he smiled widely at the Gym Leader. 

The wall of the Ancient Preserve had sustained more than a little damage the day before, a hole blown into it almost 10 meters in width and twice that in height. The rubble laid scattered across the plateau the group was currently standing on, a few of the pieces as big as the humans standing next to them. "Any idea how long it will take to rebuild?" Brock asked, staring at the size of the hole. "A few weeks, maybe a month," Roark stated calmly, "It depends really. The more pressing thing is keeping the plants and prehistoric climate intact."

Ash and the others could see a bit of the vegetation through the hole, but not overly much of as it seemed the builders and scientists had taken to draw down something akin to shutters. The husky smell of the prehistoric fruits came easily to the noses of the assembled people, completely overpowering the other smells that would otherwise be present on the rocky plateau. "Did I have to wait until the rebuild was complete?" Ash asked, not fully understanding if their agreement from the day before was still on the table. That seemed to take Roark a bit by surprise, but he recovered quickly and answered sincerely, "Oh no. You get your battle today, I just have to secure the vegetation and Pokémon in our second site. We have a sort of backup facility, you see. It should only take another hour or two before we can battle it out." 

Ash nodded his head in understanding, and a fair bit of relief. "Need a hand, or should we just find something to occupy us for a couple of hours?" Ash asked, fully ready to lend them a hand if they wanted it. Roark smiled at him, "No, we got this. You helped us enough as it is yesterday, thank you. I´ll have one of the Gym assistants find you when everything is ready for our battle." Ash shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, guess I´ll see you later then." Turning to his companions he asked, "What do you want to do? Seems like we have a couple of hours to kill."

"I want to go shopping," Dawn answered immediately, much to the boys´ horror. "I am not going shopping again. No way," Ash stated terrified at the very prospect. Brock was calmer, but still firm in his refusal as well. Dawn pouted but decided not to press the boys to come with her. "Alright, but I will be shopping. Meet you by the coffee shop in an hour?" she asked, nearly skipping towards the shops. "Alright see you then," Ash answered, a bit absentmindedly. "So, what are we doing?" he turned to Brock, having not a clue himself. "I want to hear about this training trip of yours. We can just get something to drink at this coffee shop and wait for Dawn there," Brock said while walking away, causing Ash to silently shrug his shoulders and follow. 

Several people living in Oreburgh, including a couple of police officers, came up to Ash and Brock while they sat in the coffee shop, thanking the two for lending their help the day prior. "… and then the territorial Ursaring I told you about burst out from the trees and made a beeline towards Totodile and Cyndaquil. Tauros was on his feet within seconds, ready to charge," Ash sat in his chair, eagerly telling Brock stories from his training camp on Mt. Silver. "Ursaring got a nasty shock when Totodile and Cyndaquil both evolved though, he didn´t stand a chance then." "Hey, guys!" Dawn greeted the two warmly, as she made her way into the shop and sat down beside Ash. "Finished shopping already?" Ash asked, a bit shocked. Dawn blinked, and then started giggling, "I´m actually late, Ash."

The statement confused both Ash and Brock until they checked the time and found that they had been sitting in the coffee shop for nearly half an hour past the time they were supposed to meet. "It seems you are," Brock chuckled, "We didn´t really notice. Ash was telling me about his training trip, and I guess we just lost track of time." Both boys shrugged, though none of the three really minded the time. "Excuse me?" a rather young girl asked, catching the trio´s attention. "Are you Ash Ketchum?" she continued upon seeing their attention on her. "Yes, I am," Ash answered, casting a slightly confused glance over at Brock. While the girl was young, she was still somewhere between their ages, which usually meant that Brock would go all crazy for her. To Ash´s immense surprise Brock did nothing of the sort, simply smiling a friendly smile towards the girl.

"Marvelous!" the girl exclaimed, "I´m the Gym assistant supposed to let you know that Roark is ready for you." Having given her message, the girl immediately walked over to a young man sitting by the counter and plopped herself into the guy´s lap, obviously her boyfriend. Glancing at Brock again, Ash saw absolutely no reaction to this. Brock calmly finished his cup of coffee, before getting up. "Time to head to the Gym, then," Brock commented, a wide anticipating smile on his face. Raising his eyebrow, more than a bit confused as to why Brock wasn´t reacting to the girl at all, Ash decided to ask.

Though he waited until they had left the shop behind, so as to not be overheard by the girl. "What´s going on, Brock?" Ash asked, not harshly or anything of the like, but thoroughly confused. "What do you mean, Ash?" Dawn cut in, even more, surprised at the sudden question. Brock, meanwhile, laughed resoundingly, almost falling down and holding his sides as he laughed. "Oh, he´s talking about a previous habit of mine," Brock answered, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye. Dawn rose an eyebrow, clearly waiting for an explanation. "He usually nearly flings himself on a girl who´s anywhere near his age and attractive, often getting shut down quite brutally I might add," Ash stated, a bit of a chuckle as he stated the last. "Oh, but he didn´t react at all just now?" Dawn said, still very confused. Ash rolled his eyes, "Which is why I asked what´s going on. Speaking of which, I´m still waiting for an answer." 

Gathering himself, as he had started laughing again, Brock finally managed to give his answer, "I did find her attractive, but I can´t fling myself at every girl I meet any longer. Well, I shouldn´t have in the first place, but I really can´t now. It wouldn´t be fair to my girlfriend." The end of the statement left Ash with his mouth gaping, shocked to the core. "Girlfriend!?" he burst out a few minutes later, his brain having rebooted. "Mhm," Brock simply hummed and nodded his head. Dawn giggled at seeing Ash´s shell-shocked expression, before she asked gently, "Who´s your girlfriend, Brock?" Brock looked at her, and then smirked victoriously toward Ash before answering, "Lucy the 'Pike Queen'." Ash nearly slipped as his feet came to a screeching halt, his mouth hanging open even further. "Lucy!?"

Dawn seemed confused again, "Eh, sorry, who is this Lucy? Apparently, you both know her." Ash chuckled quietly to himself, "Lucy Azami, also known as the 'Pike Queen'. She is one of the Frontier Brains of the Kanto Battle Frontier, and I am very certain this bonehead made a fool of himself continuously in her presence." All three started laughing at that, "Yes, I did. Somehow it made her like me. She came to Pewter about a week after we split up, and we ended up hanging out. A week later, we were together." Brock had a content smile on his face as he explained how they ended up with each other, Ash simply shaking his head amusedly. "Why isn´t she with you now then?" Dawn asked, not fully understanding why a Frontier Brain couldn´t travel.

The two boys looked at each other, "I guess we´ll explain how the Battle Frontier works later, but for now…" Ash left his statement to hang, as the three looked up at the giant building with a sign that read 'Oreburgh City Gym'. Entering with a determined and confident spring in his step, Ash came face to face with Roark in the lobby. "I see Marisa found you before she took her break," Roark greeted them, a grin on his face as he spoke. The Gym´s lobby was immaculately clean, with a large horseshoe-shaped couch directly opposite a large screen. A few plants had been placed around the otherwise very much sterile room, perhaps to get some color variation from the brown and white of the wall and floor. The scent of pine saplings had spread throughout the room, the largest and nearest of the plants being some variation of the common tree sort. 

"We happened to be in the same coffee shop as her boyfriend," Ash responded, shrugging his shoulders. "Pleasant coincidence for her then," Roark said, an amused smile on his face. "Before we start, are you allowed the handicap?" he seemed curious, but his question further confused Dawn. Getting a tad bit annoyed at her constant state of confusion she asked, "What handicap?" The three boys looked at her before Roark looked at the other two. "I´m guessing she´s a newbie or a coordinator?" Ash nodded, "Both actually." 

"Ah," Roark acknowledged, "The handicap is a condition we give to any trainer that hasn´t completed three Regional Leagues. Basically, it gives them a somewhat weaker team to fight than the Gym Leaders full might, so newer trainers don´t get overwhelmed from the start." Seeing realization set in on Dawn´s face, Roark turned to Ash with an expectant look on his face. "No, I´m not eligible for the handicap, Sinnoh happens to be my fourth Regional League," Ash answered. Dawn gawked at him, "It is? I thought you had beaten the Battle Frontier and Orange Island Challenge?" Ash laughed slightly at her innocent question, "I have, but they aren´t Regional Leagues. They´re League sanctioned and approved challenges, but not Regional Leagues like the Silver Conference or the Indigo League."

"Let´s get this started then," Roark cut in before Dawn could ask further questions, as eager to get started as Ash was. Ash smiled and nodded, the determined gleam in his eyes settling in once again. "That entrance over there leads to the spectator's gallery," Roark said, pointing to a large double doored entrance on the other side of the clerk´s desk. Brock nodded and headed over with Dawn at his side. Ash and Roark though walked through the large iron sliding door that had been directly behind Roark, arriving directly at the battlefield. 

"Alright, my judge here is Oliver," Roark stated gesturing to the long-haired older man standing halfway across the field. The long hair seemed to be somewhere between green and blond, and the guy had some scruffy beard on his chin. "The rules are quite simple. It´s a three on three match, with only the challenger allowed to substitute Pokémon. Any questions?" Ash rose an eyebrow and stared at Roark in a deadpan, causing the auburn-haired teen to chuckle. "Guess not, I´ll choose my Pokémon first," he added before he walked over to his side of the field. 

The two trainers stared each other down from across the field, the judge motioned for Roark to let his Pokémon out. "Golem, I choose you!" Roark stated loudly, releasing the Megaton Pokémon. "Alright, you´re up first. Turtwig!" Ash called, the Tiny Leaf Pokémon landing solidly a second later. With narrowed eyes he glared at his opponent, shaking his leaf slightly and taking a few experimental steps on the field. "Alright, the first battle will be between Roark´s Golem and the challenger´s Turtwig! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver yelled, giving them both the signal to start.

"Rock Blast, Golem!" Roark immediately shouted, intent on getting the offensive early on. "Dodge that and use Razor Leaf!" Ash countered, a focused expression resting on his face. The rocks created heavy thuds when they slammed into the ground, not one touching Turtwig as the small Grass-type darted between jagged rocks and small crevices in the field. When he dodged the third rock, he saw a small opening and sent a barrage of leaves forward. The leaves impacted on Golem, creating a small dust cloud. "Shake it off, and use Magnitude!" Ash´s eyes widened, and he quickly ordered, "Jump!" Trusting his trainer, Turtwig sprang up from the ground soaring through the air as the powerful magnitude shook the arena.

"Shoot him with Stone Edge while he is in the air!" Roark ordered, the smirk making it clear that he had planned for this. "Let the first one come to you and use it to spin out of the way! Then fire another Razor Leaf!" the order shocked Roark, who watched as Turtwig managed to execute the brilliant evasive maneuver. "Dodge with Rollout and give it to him!" Roark managed to shout, despite his initial shock. Golem spun from its position, dodging the Razor Leaf attack flawlessly, and impacted heavily on Turtwig with Rollout. Turtwig flew through the air and smashed a stalagmite before rolling to a stop, where he struggled slightly to get up. Determined not to lose his very first Gym Battle, Turtwig pushed himself to his feet just in time to see Golem rolling toward him. "Use Leech Seed!" Ash commanded, knowing full well that he couldn´t let Golem continue the Rollout.

Smirking at the order Turtwig sent the seed flying, lodging it between to plates of Golem´s rocky body. The vines quickly spread, tangling Golem up and stopping his momentum. "Golem!" Roark shouted, concerned. "Use Razor Leaf, followed by Bite!" Ash yelled, a brilliant grin on his face as he allowed the thrill of battle to overcome him. Turtwig´s initial Razor Leaf found its mark, causing major damage to Golem. The Bite, however, was blocked by Golem´s arm. "Use Stone Edge!" Roark roared. The rocks floating around Golem gave Turtwig ample warning of what was about to happen, but there was little he could do. 

The attack sent Turtwig to the ground, hard, and he again struggled massively to get up. "Alright, finish it up with Rock Blast!" Roark commanded, a tone signifying triumph in his voice. "Turtwig, dodge that and use Razor Leaf!" Rolling to his side without getting up properly, Turtwig managed to evade the attack and the following Razor Leaf impacted into Golem´s side. The Megaton Pokémon stood panting, though not nearly as damaged as Turtwig himself. Suddenly a flash of red came over the vine of Leech Seed, accompanied by a scream from Golem, and Turtwig felt himself getting refreshed. "Good, now let´s use Razor Leaf!" Not thinking twice, Turtwig jumped up and flipped forward, releasing a torrent of leaves.

Upon impact the leaves created a large dust cloud, obscuring Golem from view. When the cloud dispersed, Golem seemed to have taken major damage, perhaps as much as Turtwig. Golem wasn´t done yet, roaring in defiance. "Use Ancient Power!" Roark shouted suddenly, a smirk on his face. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that Ancient Power could prove a real problem. "Turtwig! Dodge that, and use Mega Drain!" They hadn´t gotten Mega Drain down completely yet, but it was the only chance Turtwig had at coming out the victor right now.

Weaving through the oncoming barrage of rocks Turtwig managed to avoid almost every hit, only being slightly grazed by the very last rock. The tendrils of energy that was Mega Drain connected solidly with Golem, and the light show that followed when Leech Seed and Mega Drain sapped Golem of strength was spectacular. When the light died down, Golem tumbled forward but caught itself before crashing down. "Use Rock Blast!" Roark ordered, a bit frustrated. "Razor Leaf!" Even though Turtwig was fresher now than Golem now, the two attacks proved to be fairly equal in power. The two attacks, in the end, didn´t cancel each other out but continued through each other. Both Turtwig and Golem were covered by dust as they were hit by the opposing attack. This time both Pokémon were out cold when the dust settled, causing everyone´s eyes to widen. "Both Pokémon are unable to battle, this round is a draw. The Gym Leader will choose his Pokémon first," Oliver ruled, still a bit surprised.

"I´ll say, Ash, I didn´t expect a first stage Pokémon to be able to tie with my Golem," Roark commented amiably, returning Golem from the field. Ash smiled as he returned Turtwig, "Good work, buddy." Hearing what Roark had said he decided to answer, "I have always had strong Pokémon regardless of which stage in the evolution line they are. It´s one of the reasons I´m classed as an Elite Trainer." Roark and Oliver both smiled at the new information, no doubt having their suspicions of that already. 

"Shall we continue?" Roark asked eagerly, palming a Pokéball. "Yeah, if you think you´re up for it?" Ash teased, a confident smile on his face, some might even call it cocky. With a short bark of laughter Roark sent out his next Pokémon, "Omastar, you´re up!" The Spiral Pokémon appeared on the field, its blue tentacles flailing lightly in the air. "Alright, Bayleef! Your turn!" Ash called, releasing the affectionate Leaf Pokémon. The yellow sauropod didn´t Body Slam him, but he knew she would if she won. "The second round will be between Roark´s Omastar and the challenger´s Bayleef! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver shouted.

"Vine Whip!" Ash called instantly, letting Bayleef take the offensive first. "Defend with Wring Out!" Roark yelled. Omastar´s many tentacles rose to battle with the set of vines Bayleef tried hitting it with, deflecting and canceling them out. "Spike Cannon!" Roark followed up, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his face. The barbs that shot forward moved so fast that Bayleef had no time to dodge, taking them all straight on. "Use Razor Leaf to retaliate, and then fire Sunny Day!" Ash ordered, following a plan he had laid before the battle. Roark seemed to realize what he was planning on doing because he shouted to Omastar. "Use Spike Cannon to rip through those leaves and fire an Ice Beam to stop that Bayleef!" 

Only half of that order came into fruition, as Bayleef managed to fire her attacks nearly simultaneously. The Spike Cannon did manage to rip her Razor Leaf to shreds, but the following Ice Beam was easily, nearly casually, dodged. "Alright, use Razor Leaf to hold it down, and then Leaf Storm!" The cascade of razor-sharp leaves did pin Omastar down, making it completely open for the tornado of leaves that slammed into it seconds later. The very effective attack seemed to nearly take Omastar out, but the prehistoric Pokémon rallied and toughed it out. "Blizzard!" Roark commanded, wanting to cause some damage to Bayleef as well. "Use Vine Whip to dodge, and retaliate with Razor Leaf!" Ash countered, grinning when Bayleef used her vines to propel herself upward.

The Ice-type attack passed harmlessly beneath her, and her attack slammed down into Omastar harshly. "Damn it! Omastar use Wring Out to hold her down and fire Blizzard again!" Roark seemed really agitated now, understanding just how skilled a trainer he was battling. The tentacles grabbed hold of the still airborne Leaf Pokémon and kept her in place, not giving her any chance to dodge the incredibly powerful stream of cold wind that blew into her afterward. When Omastar´s tentacles receded, Bayleef crashed hard into the ground. Standing up despite the number of injuries, Bayleef glared at her opponent. "Bayleef! Let her rip!" Ash ordered a moment later, not wanting to give Omastar to much time to recover.

"Let her rip?" Roark repeated, puzzled. That was until Bayleef fired her Solarbeam, enveloping Omastar in a bright beam of Grass-type energy she had gathered from the still active Sunny Day. When the attack ended Omastar coughed a cloud of dust out, and fell to his side, swirls in his eyes. The Sunny Day disappeared slowly, and Bayleef was left to stand panting in exhaustion. "Great work, girl!" Ash praised her, causing her to give him a tired smile. "Omastar is unable to battle! The round goes to the challenger´s Bayleef, Roark choose your final Pokémon!" Oliver called, his decision made. Before Roark could call out his next Pokémon he was cut off by Ash, "Bayleef return, and get some rest."

Roark nodded in acknowledgment, releasing his final Pokémon finally. "Rampardos, it´s you and me!" The giant dark grey Pokémon roared loudly upon being released, its blue parts glowing in an ethereal bluish light. "Is it alright if I scan him before we battle?" Ash asked, not wanting to break any rules. Roark shrugged and gestured for him to continue, a slight smile on his face. The metallic voice of Ash´s Pokédex started speaking shortly after, "Rampardos the Head Butt Pokémon, and the evolved form of Cranidos. These Pokémon ruled the jungles in prehistoric times, knocking down trees in the search for prey. Its head is harder than iron and can break even the most durable material in the world. In ancient civilizations, they would use Rampardos skulls as helmets." With its piece said the Pokédex stopped speaking with an audible click, and Ash placed it back into his pocket. 

"Alright, let´s go Croconaw!" Ash called, already having decided on his Pokémon for this battle. Croconaw appeared on the field with a smirk on his face, and his arms crossed. "The third round will be between Roark´s Rampardos and the challenger´s Croconaw! Let the battle…begin!" Oliver shouted. "Rampardos start off with Zen Headbutt!" Roark directed a smile on his face once again. "Jump over it and fire Hydro Pump!" 

The Big Jaw Pokémon waited until Rampardos was close enough, before following his trainer´s order and jumping over the hulking Rock-type. The powerful Water-type attacked crashed into Rampardos´ back, sending it staggering forward. "Retaliate with Headbutt!" Faster than Ash thought possible, Rampardos spun around and sent Croconaw flying with a precise and devastating Headbutt. Croconaw destroyed three stalagmites before managing to halt his flight by landing with his feet on the rock and springing towards Rampardos. "Use Ice Punch!" "Meet it with Thunder Punch!"

The two elemental punches met in the middle, creating an explosion of cold wind and electricity. The pressure slammed into Roark and Ash harder than any other pressure way had during their battle, Ash actually feeling the pain as his bruises were tormented. "Croconaw use Ice Fang to latch on and the repeated Iron Tail attacks!" Croconaw wasted no time, latching onto Rampardos´ left hand with the Ice Fang attack. With his tail he slammed the Iron Tail into every part of Rampardos´ body he could reach, causing massive damage. "Rampardos knock it off with Thunder Punch, and follow up with Zen Headbutt!"

The super-effective elemental punch dislodged Croconaw easily, and the follow up sent Croconaw flying once again. "Thunder!" Roark commanded, a bit harshly. Rampardos roared as he fired the massively powerful Electric-attack, finding his mark easily as Croconaw was still in the air. When the dust cloud that had appeared when Croconaw hit the ground disappeared, Croconaw was kneeling and panting heavily. Ash gritted his teeth, knowing that Rampardos was Roark´s most powerful Pokémon. "Croconaw use Hydro Pump!" The condensed torrent of water slammed into Rampardos, actually lifting the heavy Pokémon from the ground. Rampardos had taken significant damage, but still remained standing. "Thunder Punch!" Roark shouted, intent on taking Croconaw out. "Meet it with Ice Punch!"

Again, both attacks met in the middle, and the explosion that followed covered the field in dust. When the dust cloud dispersed Croconaw and Rampardos were still in place, their fists touching in the middle without the elemental energies. Simultaneously the two exhausted Pokémon fell forward, landing side by side facing their respective trainers. Oliver waited for a few moments, to see if any of them were getting up. When it became clear that wasn´t the case he spoke up, "Both Pokémon are unable to battle, which means this round is a tie. Since the challenger has one Pokémon remaining, the challenger wins the battle!"

Ash cheered shortly, before heading into the field to check on Croconaw. "Hey, buddy. You were great, you tied with his strongest Pokémon!" Ash praised Croconaw, who seemed displeased at the result. He still managed to smile to his trainer though, knowing his trainer didn't feel less of him for tying instead of winning. "Congratulations, Ash. I must say I´m impressed that you could beat me like this," Roark stated, standing over Ash. "Thank you, you were incredibly powerful. I never knew just how much the difference between your true teams and your handicap teams were," Ash stated sincerely, having been taken by surprise by the amount of power the Gym Leader´s Pokémon had displayed. Roark smiled at the compliment, "I need to go get your badge, so I´ll meet you and your friends outside, alright?"

Ash nodded and returned Croconaw, high fiving Pikachu as he made his way out. "That was awesome! That was totally different from your battle with Paul!" Dawn screamed when she saw Ash, a wide smile on her face as she jumped into his arms and hugged him tightly. She blushed upon realizing what she had done but made no attempts to remove herself. "Yeah, Roark was a lot more powerful than I thought. If that´s the level of a Gym Leaders ace team I´m going to have my work cut out for me," Ash stated, half in jest, to Brock, who smiled and nodded. 

Five minutes went by before Roark came out of the Gym, carrying a small cloth. Upon the cloth laid a small metal object shaped almost like a Pokéball, mostly brown but with silver details. "This is the Coal Badge, and you´ve truly earned it. Helping out yesterday, and that fantastic battle today," Roark stated with a smile. Ash grinned and took the badge, immediately putting it into his newest case. "Well, then I guess all that´s left for me is to wish you luck on your journey," Roark finally said, a friendly smile playing on his lips. "Thank you, Roark. Hope everything works out with the Preserve," Ash answered him earnestly.

"Now which city should we head to next?" Ash asked, looking at Brock. "I suggest Eterna City," Roark stated his back to the trio. "I think there´s a contest hall on the way, in a small town called Floaroma Town. Don´t know if there will be a contest, but…" He finished the statement with a shrug and casually strolled into his Gym again, whistling happily as he went. "Eterna then? Hopefully with a stop for a contest in Floaroma Town?" Ash asked his companions to clarify. Brock nodded, "That seems alright." Dawn laughed happily, "Yep! I hope there is a contest." The three walked off, the boys explaining about the Battle Frontier as they went. The sky glowing orange as the sun set over the horizon, and a slight breeze blowing into their backs.

 **A/N:**

 **Hey, I finished another! What is going on with me? This is not normal, just so you know. Don´t get used to this number of updates, I usually don´t have this much motivation. Though I guess I did it mostly for stress relief, which it gave me in spades. If you haven´t figured it out I write these and upload them immediately upon completion (after a spell check, though some errors manage to get through).**

 **So, Ash finally got his first badge and the group is on their way again.**

 **I had planned for two evolutions, but they will both be happening on a later date instead. You´re free to guess which Pokémon I was thinking about evolving and still is.  
**

**Think that´s it, any questions, comments or suggestions feel free to leave a review.**

 **Till next time!**


	15. Shocking Surprises!

**A/N:**

 **Alright, let´s see how quickly I´ll get this one done.** **I have actually created my own little document with OCs to use, mostly Pokémon Hunters who I´ve created. I have a general idea for how to implement some of them, others I´m unsure if I am going to use. But I created a list I´ve called 'Sinnoh´s Most Wanted', which has the 15 most wanted Pokémon Hunters active in Sinnoh- Hunter J is the top of it, but the 14 others are OC´s, one of which has already appeared in my story. Apart from that, I haven´t really gotten any questions or reviews that need answering, so I guess I´ll just jump straight into it.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Pokémon or associated products in any way, shape or form, nor do I make a profit of this fanfiction.  
**

**With that out of the way, on to the chapter!**

 **Shocking Surprises!**

It had gone two days since Ash´s victory at the Oreburgh Gym, and the group had made good progress toward Floaroma Town. The trio was gathered around their camping table for breakfast, as Ash´s morning workout had just wrapped up. Around them were all of their Pokémon eating their own food, Ash had sent Charizard back to the Charizific Valley not wanting to really on his power. Remaining with him he had Pikachu, as always, Bayleef, Quilava, Croconaw, Staravia, Turtwig, and Shinx. "Hey guys, I think it´s time to trade places for a little while," Ash suddenly spoke up, causing Bayleef, Quilava, and Croconaw to look saddened for a second before conceding. 

Dawn, however, didn't understand just what Ash meant, but Brock cut her off before she asked. "He means that Quilava, Aipom, Croconaw, and Bayleef should be switched with some of his other Pokémon." "Ah," Dawn acknowledged, seeing why Ash felt that he needed to give time to some of his other Pokémon too. Ash was sitting in deep thought, trying hard to think on who to travel with him. "Alright I´ve decided," he finally stated his Pokémon gathering over to him immediately. "Quilava, Aipom and Croconaw, the three of you will return to Oak´s Lab for now. Though I´ve read that Eterna Gym is a Grass-type Gym, so I´m bringing you back for that Quilava." The trio nodded, Croconaw felt it wrong to complain since he had just gotten a Gym Battle, Aipom knew Ash was just waiting for Dawn to catch a battle orientated Pokémon to trade, and Quilava was appeased by the promise of having the next Gym Battle.

"Bayleef, the reason you´re staying is that I´m bringing Ivysaur over and both you and Turtwig can learn a lot from him," Ash explained, looking at the yellow sauropod. Bayleef nodded, knowing full well that Ivysaur was probably Ash´s strongest Grass-type despite Sceptile´s extreme battle prowess. Ash returned the three he was sending back and walked a bit away from the other two trainers, sitting on a rather large rock in the middle of the clearing they had made their camp in. Plotting in Oak´s number he made the trade, bringing Ivysaur over, along with his battle Tauros and Wartortle. However just as he was about to walk back over to Dawn and Brock, another call came in on his X-Transceiver.

"Guys, I´m going to have to take this! I´ll be over when it´s done," Ash shouted over to them. Getting affirmatives back Ash disappeared behind the rock to take the phone call in solitude, so he didn´t know Jessie and James appeared out of the forest just a few minutes later. "Morning, twerps," Jessie greeted them teasingly, a friendly smile playing on her lips. "Morning Jessie, James," Brock answered. "Oi!" "…and Meowth," Brock amended quickly, smiling apologetically down to the Scratch Cat Pokémon.

"Where is the lead, twerp?" James asked, a bit anxiously. Brock rose an eyebrow, "Taking a phone call, why?" James sighed, "I wanted to ask him to battle my Cacnea. She wants to evolve and I just can´t seem to find out how to do it. I thought battling Ash might do something." Behind Brock, Bonsly seemed to perk up at the prospect of evolving. Quickly making up his mind he waddled over to Brock and softly headbutted his calf, getting his attention. "What´s up, Bonsly?" Brock asked, bending down and picking him up. "Bon-sly-bon-bon-bonsly!" Bonsly tried speaking up, trying to make himself understood by his trainer.

"You want to battle?" Brock asked, skepticism clear on his face. "Sly!" Bonsly insisted, an expression of determination sliding onto his little face. "Well, alright," Brock hesitantly concedes, knowing that a Bonsly isn´t supposed to battle. Among the classified Baby Pokémon, only Magby and Elekid are usually powerful enough to battle on their own. "Does that work for you? Bonsly against Cacnea?" Brock asked, still skeptic about letting Bonsly battle. James looked unsure, but in the end, it was Meowth that made the decision for them. "Bonsly wants to fight to get a chance for evolution too," he simply translated, a bored look on his face. Jumping from James´s shoulder Meowth landed on the camping table, now clean, and curled up to sleep in the morning sun. 

"Alright then, Cacnea versus Bonsly," James agreed. The two spread apart, James standing about 20 meters away facing Brock, who already had Bonsly out in front of him. "Cacnea, let´s go!" James shouted, releasing his rather too affectionate Cactus Pokémon. Sure enough, just as always Cacnea jumped at James hugging him tightly. "I like you too Cacnea, but we have a battle at the moment," James stated, carefully prying Cacnea´s barbs out of his skin.

The round Pokémon jumped off of him, turning around to come face to face with Bonsly. For a few moments, the two Pokémon stood watching each other before James took the initiative to start the battle. "Cacnea use Pin Missile!" Brock, knowing that Bonsly only knew Rock Throw and Flail, quickly ordered Bonsly to dodge, allowing the Pin Missile attack to harmlessly dissipate into the ground. "Use Rock Throw!" Bonsly´s retaliatory attack flew straight at the immobile Cacnea, but just before it hit James yelled, "Needle Arm!" The powerful attack destroyed the flying rocks with one powerful swing before Cacnea continued forward trying to strike Bonsly.

"Dodge! And use Flail!" Brock ordered, still quite nervous. Bonsly quickly stepped to the side and struck Cacnea back, sending the Cactus Pokémon flying. "Gather yourself and use Pin Missile!" James spoke swiftly, not willing to give Bonsly a reprieve. "Try countering with Rock Throw!" The explosions that followed blanketed the battlefield in smoke, obscuring both Pokémon from view. "Cacnea use Needle Arm!" "Bonsly use Flail!" Both knew that this could be the end of the battle, not certain if any of the two would actually connect with the other Pokémon.

From within the smoke, a large pillar of light shone brightly, nearly blinding the two trainers who both had their eyes wide open to pay attention. "Argh! My eyes!" James screamed, covering them from the harsh light. While not as vocal in his misery as his opponent, Brock too did what he could to shield his eyes. It took several minutes for the two trainers to be able to see without brightly gleaming spots in their vision, only for the smoke to still obscure their view. It was thinner, but not so thin that they could view through it. Slowly, over several minutes, the smoke thinned further giving way to two silhouettes standing face to face within it.

Having had enough James ordered, "Blow that smoke away!" One of the silhouettes rose an arm and seemed to swing it through the air, causing a strong gust of wind to scatter the remaining smoke. Revealed standing in the middle of the battlefield, the very blown apart and singed battlefield, was two humanoid Pokémon. One was green and had a darker part that almost seemed like a hat on its head, its yellow irises gleaming in the dark that was the rest of its eyes. The other was brown, with a Y-shape on top of its head, and three green orbs at the tip of its hands. "Cacnea evolved into Cacturne! Yes!" James cheered, ecstatic that Cacturne had gotten what it wanted out of the battle. Brock stood at the other side of the field, shocked speechless. When he finally managed to speak a few minutes later the first words to escape his lips was, "Bonsly evolved? In its first battle?"

The brown humanoid turned, saluting its trainer in a similar manner to soldiers saluting their superior, and exclaimed, "Sudowoodo!" James had lunged forward and was currently hugging his newly evolved, and still very thorny, Pokémon. "What do you say we end the battle there? Call it a draw?" he asked, looking toward Brock. Not knowing what else to do Brock agreed, as he walked over to Sudowoodo. "Are you sticking around to talk to Ash?" Brock asked curiously when it seemed the former Rocket trio was preparing to be on their way. "We probably should, to be honest," Jessie mused, sitting down beside Dawn. 

"That didn´t sound like it was just to be friendly," Brock commented, a mixture of confusion and suspicion evident in his expression. "Unfortunately, it isn't kid," Meowth stated a sad tone in his voice. The five of them sat there, quiet conversations between them but nothing more, and waited for Ash to finish his phone call. When Ash returned about 10 minutes after James and Brock had finished their battle, he smiled slightly at James, Jessie, and Meowth. "What´s up?" he asked, his happy expression falling upon seeing the nervous expressions on the trio´s faces. "You remember how we were fired, and they tried to…silence us?" Jessie asked, a bit careful with her words around Dawn. 

Ash rose an eyebrow but nodded silently. -What is going on? he thought to himself. "Well, we still have some contacts in the organization. I think you´ve met Cassidy and Butch?" Meowth explained slightly, both Ash and Brock nodded in affirmative that they had met the two. "Well, the fact is Cassidy and Butch also left Team Rocket. It´s just that they overheard a few of the admins before they bolted," Meowth continued. "They heard two things they thought were important. Number one is that Team Rocket is trying to get a foothold here in Sinnoh, and number two is that they´re looking for someone. Someone the boss wants, in a possessive not healthy kind of way, and they think she´s in Sinnoh. Knowing you as we do, you´re going to get tangled into this," James continued where Meowth let off. "So, we thought we should warn you," Jessie stated, "The admins and other members aren´t quite as harmless as we were." 

With their piece said the trio got up and excused themselves, about to leave before Ash spoke up. "Hold up. I have some information too, and I think it´d benefit you to hear it." The wind picked up, ruffling Ash´s hair and making it cover his eyes. The somber and serious tone in Ash´s voice prompting the others present to sit down and listen intently, even as the creaking of the trees attacked their ears. "That phone call, that was Lance." The single sentences captured the other attention even further than it had already been, all of them understanding that something causing a Regional Champion to inform someone like Ash could potentially be very dangerous.

"He told me about the 'Sinnoh´s Most Wanted list," he continued, "The 15 most wanted Pokémon Hunters in Sinnoh." The booming of thunder cracked through the sky like a whip, signaling the imminent rain. "Should we find shelter somewhere and take this there?" James asked, a very serious expression on his face. When they had finally gotten their gear backed, the group could hear the rain slamming down not far from them. Even running at top speed, the rain overtook them, and they had to run for five minutes in the freezing cold rain, soaked to the bone, before they came upon the Pokécenter that had been strategically placed in the countryside.

"Oh dear. Are you alright?" Nurse Joy asked them, as they entered the lobby. "We´re fine, but we would very much appreciate some rooms," James responded kindly, a slight smile forming on his face. "Of course, one for the girls and one for the boys?" Nurse Joy asked. "Oh, we need three rooms. One for the two young men, one for the young lady and one for me and my wife," James explained easily, a smile still on his face. "Of course, I had no idea," Nurse Joy smiled, handing them three keys, "Enjoy your stay." "Let´s get changed out of these clothes and then we can meet in the lobby in 20?" Ash suggested, his teeth clattering slightly as the cold sat in for full. The others nodded and they immediately split up, going to their respective rooms to get changed.

As Ash slipped out of his soaked clothing, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise as a cold breeze caressed his skin. Shivering lightly, Ash hurried up and got a new set of dry, warm clothes on his back. "I´ll head down, you coming?" Ash asked, keeping his eyes away from Brock just in case he wasn´t as quick as Ash himself. "Yeah, I´m ready," Brock answered, and the two quickly left the room behind after hanging their wet clothes up to dry. As they were the first to arrive in the lobby, they occupied a table and got their hands on a large mug of hot chocolate. After they had been waiting for about five minutes Dawn made her way down and sat next Ash, a fair bit closer than she had previously. When Jessie and James sat down with them just a short while after, Ash picked up his previous statement. The rain poured down like a waterfall outside, coupled with flashes of lightning and the rumbling of thunder sporadically. 

"So, Lance gave me some information about the 15 most wanted Hunters in Sinnoh. One in particular," Ash continued. "It seems one of his own cousins, a member of the Ibuki Clan, is one of the 15. He asked that if we come across her to call him immediately. He blamed himself and told me that she isn´t actually bad. He also told me about to of the other 15 that he seems conflicted about. One of them is a 20-year-old young woman, who allegedly committed murder in Viridian when she was 15. Lance feels there is something strange there." "Do you have the pictures of them?" Meowth asked, a curious expression on his face. Ash blinked, but picked up a cord from his X-Transceiver and plugged it into the table. The screen that none of the others knew was present in the table lit up, showing 15 files neatly ordered. Each one had a name and a number, number one being Hunter J.

"The number next to their name is their place on the list," Ash explained before he opened the file named 'Goldbloom_Silvana_#7'. "This is the girl from Viridian according to Lance," Ash said, gesturing toward the picture. It showed a young woman whose red hair was streaked with blonde and green eyes showed sadness. She was quite attractive if Ash had to be honest, but even the pictures taken showed she was sad about her actions. "I was afraid of that," Meowth sighed, "The girl´s innocent." That caused eyebrows to rise, including those of Jessie and James. "What do you mean?" James asked, a bit of anger on his face. "The girl, that´s one of the ones Giovanni wanted. She´s probably the one he wants to find here in Sinnoh, whatever crimes it said she committed before coming to Sinnoh are all Giovanni´s schemes." 

"I´ll be sure to tell Lance, he´ll be glad to know his hunch was right," Ash nodded, smiling to Meowth. "This is Lance´s cousin," he stated opening another file. "She doesn´t have the Ibuki name?" Brock asked curiously. "Apparently whatever happened made her renounce the clan, so she goes by her mother´s name," Ash explained. "If we meet either of the two, we detain them and call Lance and only Lance," he continued sternly, gazing upon the others around the table. Getting affirmative nods from all around the table he smiled again. 

The rest of the day and well into the evening the group sat around that table, looking into the files Ash had gotten from Lance and discussing the best course of action in the event they met any of them. They only finished up when the clock neared 11 in the evening, and they had gone through their third mug of hot chocolate. The downpour hadn´t stopped yet, still slamming down hard on the windows of the room. The occasional flash of lightning, accompanied by a distant rumble of thunder, also made appearances. Ash, however, was thinking about one piece of information that he hadn´t shared with the others, something he still wasn´t sure how he felt about. -Why would Lance give me the authority of a G-Man, is it only to detain and hold the Hunters? Or is there something else happening here? Those were only a few of the myriad of thoughts rushing through Ash´s head. Slowly he closed his eyes and drifted off into the realms of dreams, his breathing calm.

He awoke groggily the next morning, almost stumbling into the shower. He very nearly shrieked as the cold water hit him, jolting him awake in an instant. As he dried off, he gazed into the mirror hanging on the bathroom wall, spotting the scruff that had started its return. Sighing he fetched his shaving tools and removed the slight scruff, slathering a little of his aftershave on as he finished. The smell wasn´t the best, a bit harsh on his nose, but it didn´t smell bad either. Coming out of the bathroom Ash found Pikachu still sleeping soundly on his bed, though it seemed Brock had already left the room. "Come on Pikachu, it´s time to wake up," he gently roused the sleepy Mouse Pokémon.

When the two made their way downstairs he managed to just catch a glimpse of James, Jessie, and Meowth entering what looked like a limousine, before the car drove off. Not thinking too much of it, Ash walked over to the table where Brock was sitting, judging by the wide smile on his face, and the Pokégear in his hands, he was speaking to Lucy. "Morning, Brock," he greeted as he sat down, just as Brock ended his call to Lucy. "Morning, Ash. How are you feeling?" Brock responded, a happy smile on his face. "A bit of a headache, but otherwise I´m fine. And you?" Brock simply shrugged his shoulders, before getting up. "Well since your also awake now I´ll get started on breakfast, could you go up and see if Dawn´s up yet?"

Ash nodded and headed upstairs again. He easily found Dawn´s room and knocked on the door, hearing no answer he waited a bit. When he knocked again, and no answer came he opened the door. Dawn was sleeping soundly on the bed, her eyes closed and her head snuggly pressed into her pillow. Ash sighed and moved forward, not really wanting to disturb a sleeping teenage girl. -This is a bad idea, he thought to himself before he carefully shook Dawn. "Hm?" came from Dawn as she started to stir, and before she registered that Ash was there she kicked the duvet off. She realized a second later that Ash was standing right next to her bed, and that she had forgone sleeping in her usual nightgown, instead sleeping in only her underwear. Letting out a shriek, a quite cute on in Ash´s opinion, she pulled the duvet back over herself, covering her body.

"Morning," Ash stated, quite lamely as he was still a bit shocked himself. "Yes, morning. Can you leave my room so I can get dressed?" Dawn asked quietly, a fierce blush spreading from her face and down her neck. Shaking off the shock, and blushing fiercely himself, Ash retreated out the room and closed the door. Opting to wait outside, to apologize before the two went to eat breakfast with Brock, Ash leaned on the wall. -Why did I do that? Why? he moaned to himself, not understanding how he hadn´t thought of this. A mental image of Dawn in only her underwear came unbidden to his mind, and Ash´s blush reinforced itself. He stood there waiting for the next 10 minutes before Dawn finally came out of her room. She blushed again upon seeing him stand there, but before she managed to say anything Ash beat her to it. 

"I´m so sorry. Brock asked me to wake you up, and I didn´t quite think. I hadn´t quite foreseen…that," Ash apologized, a bit hesitantly adding the last part. Dawn swallowed, "It´s…it´s fine Ash. It wasn´t your fault, well not fully at least. Let´s just…not speak of this again?" she decided finally, knowing that she couldn´t completely blame Ash. Especially since she had managed to do it to him before, and that time had been completely her fault. The two walked down to the lobby, side-by-side, in awkward silence. When the two sat down, Brock rose an eyebrow as he quickly recognized they weren´t acting quite normal. "Something happen?" he asked, a bit of a teasing undertone in his voice. Both the younger teens blushed fiercely and averted their gaze from one another. 

"I´ll take that as a yes," Brock stated, and went back to eating his breakfast. Ash gazed out the window, seeing the muddy ground. The rain had stopped sometime in the night, and all that was left was small mud ponds in the road. The sun shone brightly outside, and Ash couldn´t wait to get back on the road. "Let´s just eat and get going, alright?" he asked, focusing on his food again. Dawn nodded enthusiastically, and Brock shrugged his shoulders, in response. In accordance to Ash´s wish, the group had finished breakfast and started on their way 20 minutes later.

"Are you ready for your next contest, Dawn?" Ash asked, a slight blush still visible on his face as he spoke to their female companion. "I think so, but we don´t even know if there will be a contest in Floaroma Town when we get there," Dawn answered. Her face was turned away from Ash, so he couldn´t see the massive blush on her face. "Ok, just what happened between the two of you? You´re both blushing up a storm whenever you speak to each other," Brock finally asked them directly, extremely curious as to what could make Ash blush. Said young man tensed, and averted his gaze. Dawn blushed deeper but answered after taking a deep breath. "Well, most of my clothes were wet after the rain yesterday, including my nightgown. So, I slept without it…and I didn´t notice Ash until after I had kicked my duvet off," she looked away from Brock. 

"Oh," Brock responded, understanding just why the two were so embarrassed. Before he could say anything else though, Dawn squealed loudly. "So cute!" Dawn exclaimed, almost picking the wild Pokémon up. "Stop!" Ash commanded at once, recognizing the Pokémon´s type by its very familiar characteristics. "Why?" Dawn asked with a pout, blush long forgotten. "Very few Electric-types enjoy being hugged," Ash stated, pointing to the white and blue colored squirrel´s electric pouches. The small Electric-type cocked its head to one side, before jumping into Dawn´s hands and rubbing its cheeks on Dawn´s shirt. "You were saying?" she asked, a risen eyebrow as she faced Ash. 

He didn´t answer, as the electric squirrel released a small burst of electricity. Dawn´s hair immediately popped into a frizzy and sparkling afro, much to her shock. "Pachirisu!" the small Pokémon called and leaped out of her hands. It sat down on a nearby rock, nestling up into its own tail and fell asleep. "I´m catching it," Dawn stated stubbornly. Ash and Brock both put their hands in the air, taking a step back at the same time. 

"Buneary, spotlight!" Dawn called. -Good choice at least, Piplup would have been at a major disadvantage, Ash thought to himself. "Buneary use Dizzy Punch!" she ordered. The two ears slammed into Pachirisu a second later, sending the small Electric-type flying. When it landed it cocked its head to one side before it squealed happily and started running around, thinking the whole thing to be one big game. Not quite in the mood to play Dawn ordered, "Buneary use Ice Beam and cover the field!" A few moments later an ice sheet covered the field, causing Pachirisu to slip each time it tried to take a step. "Use Dizzy Punch!" Following her trainer´s orders, Buneary skated out and hit Pachirisu twice more. "Ice Beam!" The cold blue ray hit Pachirisu and started freezing the Electric-type over, causing it to panic. 

When it had frozen so far that Pachirisu was trapped in the ice, except for its head, Dawn ordered Buneary to stop. "Pokéball go!" The sphere pulled Pachirisu in and rocked back and forth for several moments. When it gave out the click that signified a successful capture, Dawn cheered loudly. "Yes! I caught it!" Ash smiled and walked over to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. Not fully knowing what came over her, Dawn acted on impulse and spun around kissing Ash full on the mouth. Not knowing how to respond Ash stood there, eyes wide, until Dawn separated from him. She blushed again, but this time a massive smile was evident on her face. "I´ve wanted to do that for a while," she said, skipping forward. She hummed to herself as she widened the gap between herself and the two guys. 

"What just happened?" Ash asked himself audibly, no idea how to approach this situation. "I think Dawn might like you, and for once I think you might like her the same way," Brock stated, a bit surprised at Dawn´s daring. "Guys! Come on, or I´m going to leave you behind!" Dawn called, smiling widely back at the pair of them. The two guys looked at each other, laughed loudly and ran after the clearly exuberant young girl.

 **A/N:**

 **Finished another, and I´m going to have a bit more time going forward. I only have one more exam to go, and I have a bit of time to read before it comes. In regards to the chapter, it was mostly to catch up on a few of the ideas I had and a few events that were supposed to happen.**

 **I did say that Ash and Dawn were going to be a pair, and I thought it about time that I did something to move it in that direction. They aren´t a couple yet, but at the very least I have addressed some of their feelings toward each other.**

 **The 'Sinnoh´s Most Wanted' list is more of a tool for myself, but I thought to introduce it so that I have an excuse for Ash knowing about them if they were to meet. I´m now certain that at least two of them will enter the story at some point, it isn´t that hard to guess which two, and I´m thinking about the others. Oh, and one of the others have previously entered and might reoccur in the future.  
**

**Don´t think there was anything else to say, but if you have questions feel free to PM me or leave a review.**

 **Till next time!**


	16. A Floaroma Welcome

**A/N:**

 **Alright, people, I´ll apologize for the long absence of any chapters. I had planned to get this out in December, but I ended up not getting finished. On the 18** **th** **of December, I returned home and went on a complete holiday. I´ve been relaxing and hanging out with my friends, so work on the fanfiction has been slow. After my holiday ended I´ve simply been battling with sleep deprivation, studies and a general lack of motivation, as well as a bit of a writer's block. Hopefully, most of these will clear once I get back into the swings of things and get this chapter out.**

 **Timberwolfst:** **I have gotten the suggestion of the first Pokémon to catch, I will say straight out however that I am not keeping any canon Pokémon off Ash´s team. Not counting the fact that Gliscor is one of my favorite Pokémon to use in my playthroughs and in general. The Tauros suggestion might be worth looking into, but it will probably take a while before I implement it.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own Pokémon or any associated products, and do not gain any monetary profits from this fanfiction.**

 **On to the chapter!**

 **A Floaroma Welcome!**

Sitting in the camp, alone in the brisk early morning air, Ash was deep in thought. -How do I ask her out? I know Brock will allow us the time, but what do I want to invite Dawn to do? The thoughts swirled in his mind, his attention not really on his Pokémon training before him. He had switched his Pokémon the evening before, and Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Pupitar had joined the group for now. During the time he had been sitting there several ideas for a date had popped into his head, only to be summarily dismissed a few moments later. The young man found that while he might as well be a prodigy when it came to training and battling with his Pokémon, he was rubbish at even the thought of dating. -Might be because I´ve never really thought about actually going on a date before, he thought to himself as the self-reprimanding remark lodged itself in his head for the seventh time that hour.

Shaking his head, trying to once again get rid of the thought when a reassuring hand landed on his shoulder. As deep in thought, as he had been, he hadn´t heard Brock approach, and nearly jumped upon being touched and thus drawn out of his thoughts. "How are you doing?" Brock asked as he casually took a seat next to Ash, leaning backward with his arms propping him up. Ash shrugged, not committing to anything. "You´re thinking about what the best way to ask Dawn out is?" Brock asked, a bit quiet but no less sure of what he said. "Yeah," Ash told him in a low voice, a bit hesitantly. "Well, I did read up a bit about Floaroma Town, and apparently it gets its name for the massive flower field not far from the town. You could take her there?" Brock suggested before getting up and lighting a fire to start making breakfast. -A flower field huh? That might actually work, maybe I can ask Brock to make some sandwiches or something and take Dawn on a picnic in the flower field, Ash thought to himself. A broad smile spread upon his face as he found the idea had some merits, his earlier funk starting to drift away.

"Hey, Brock?" he asked, getting his best friend´s attention. "Could you make some sandwiches or something, some lunch I mean? I figured going into the flower field alone isn´t much of a date, but a picnic just might be." Brock blinked a couple of times, slightly surprised before he smiled and nodded his head eagerly. "Shouldn´t be a problem," he answered quickly, before making a slight gesture towards the tents. Dawn´s tent had started rustling slightly, a sign that the young girl was on her way out of bed. -I´ll ask her when we get to Floaroma, Ash decided for himself.

In his head, Ash tried planning out for what he could suggest doing after the picnic, but he kept coming up short. In the end, he decided to wing it, hopeful that he could come up with something on the spot. The three of them ate in comfortable silence, though every time Ash and Dawn locked eyes the both blushed up a storm before averting their gaze. Brock, who had decided to sit a bit out of the way from the two, almost burst out laughing several times during the breakfast. About an hour or so later, around 11 in the morning, the group of three were finally ready to keep moving, and for once Ash was not the one leading the pack. Dawn had set the tempo, walking in front of Ash and Brock who were locked into a hushed conversation. 

Several times throughout the nearly two hours it took the group to reach Floaroma from their campsite Ash had let his eyes linger on Dawn´s derriere, not quite catching what Brock had just said or drifting off from his own sentence. By the time they finally reached Floaroma, Brock had was about to keel over with broken ribs from trying to hold his laughter in. -Well, it´s now or never I guess, Ash thought to himself. "Dawn?"

His voice was quiet, a bit hesitant, but it still caught her attention without difficulty. "What´s up, Ash?" she asked turning around to look him in the eyes while they spoke. "I heard that there are some really beautiful flower fields just outside of town, you want to go see them?" he asked, just the slightest dusting of a pink blush over his cheeks. "Sure. You coming Brock?" she asked, almost starting to walk toward the fields, before Ash cut in again. "Eh, actually Dawn. I meant the two of us…Like a picnic date?" he sounded uncertain again, hesitant. The sharp whistle of the wind shot through town just a few seconds after his statement was finished, thankfully concealing Ash´s anxious swallow. Dawn turned slowly around again, studying Ash´s face with a fierce blush on her own face. "You want to go on a date with me? A picnic date in the Floaroma flower fields?" she asked, trying to clarify if she had heard correctly. "Yeah?" Ash answered, still hesitant but also hopeful since she hadn´t declined out of hand.

Dawn blinked a few times before a wide smile made its way onto her face. "I´d love that!" she exclaimed, taking two steps closer and hugging Ash tight. Grabbing his hand, she started to drag Ash off cheerfully, nearly too fast for Brock to hand Ash the picnic basket that had already been prepared for the two young teens.

On the way toward the flower fields, the two teens drew a lot of attention for their antics, as Ash more than once got Dawn to giggle either by tickling her or telling her of one of his more humorous adventures. None of the attention the two got was of the hostile kind though, as all of the townsfolk simply smiled at what they assumed to be a young couple.

"Wow, look at all the flowers!" Dawn breathed out, gazing over the huge flower field covered in marigold, clematis, bellflower, hibiscus, jasmine and many other types of flowers. All the different colors made the flower field look like a rainbow ocean swaying gently in the light breeze, creating a truly spectacular sight to behold. "shall we find a spot to sit down for our picnic then?" Ash asked, smiling widely at Dawn´s transfixed face. -I´m probably going to see this face a lot as we travel and I doubt I´ll ever tire of seeing the look of amazement and wonder on her face, he thought to himself.

Smiling he led Dawn by her hand to a hill a short way into the flower field, where he laid out a rather large cobalt blue blanket, he had borrowed from Brock for their picnic. Pikachu was shooting around in the flowers around them, playing and having the time of his life. "You think we should release the rest of our Pokémon too?" Dawn asked, gazing down on Ash who had was laying on his back on the blanket. He seemed to think about it for a few moments, before he answered, "Yeah, I guess we should. I´ll just have to remind them not to ruin the fields." Moments later two voices called out in tandem, "Come on out everyone!"

In a flash of light, a whole group of Pokémon was situated in front of them, sitting quietly and waiting for instructions. Knowing that it was his Pokémon who were more liable to destroy the field Ash started, "Alright, so Dawn and I are currently on a date." He didn´t get further before nearly all of his Pokémon cheered, strangely including Bayleef who Ash thought would be upset. It took a few moments before Ash managed to silence his Pokémon again, much to the mirth of Dawn, who Ash could hear giggling by his side. "Thank you, now as I was saying we are on a date. So, we released all of you so you could relax." Hearing that most of his Pokémon were about to move away, causing Ash to have to raise his voice a bit. "Hold up! Will you listen until I´m done speaking at least?" A bit sheepish his Pokémon returned to their places and sat down again. 

"You´re allowed to simply rest or play as you like, however… This flower field is important to the town we´re in, so I will not have you destroy it. Understood?" When he was certain they understood, he let them all go and snickered lightly as Turtwig shot over to his Ivysaur. "So, how do you like your journey so far?" Ash asked as he laid back down on the blanket, right next to Dawn. "It´s fun, but I don´t think I´d have made it very far on my own," Dawn admitted quietly, a bit embarrassed. Ash simply smiled and stated in no uncertain terms, "Most newbies who travel alone don´t make it far, Dawn. Admitting that you wouldn´t don´t make you any less of a trainer, it just means you recognize that there is a limit to what you can do alone. I didn´t recognize that before I was into my Hoenn journey, mostly because at that time I couldn´t cook for the life of me and I didn´t have Brock for the first stretch. There are always going to be times you need help, and that is why we are here." 

Dawn smiled back at him, before shyly narrowing the room between them and softly placing a kiss on Ash´s cheek. "Thank you, Ash," she whispered before she snuggled into his side and drifted off to an afternoon nap under the sunny sky. Ash smiled, deciding to rest beside her while simultaneously paying attention to their playing Pokémon. Dawn woke with a rather cute, in Ash´s opinion, yawn after about 30 minutes, "Huh? Did I fall asleep?" Ash grinned at her, "Just for a little while." "You aren´t supposed to sleep on dates, Ash. Especially not the first date," she said, a distraught tone creeping into her voice.

Ash picked up on it, as he was paying rather close attention for once, and immediately spoke up to ease her worries, "Relax Dawn. It didn´t ruin the date, not at all. The date was supposed to be the two of us relaxing and letting our worries lie for a time, so I´ll call the fact that you were relaxed enough to drift off a success." She beamed up at him, though he could see she was still a bit sad at having fallen asleep in the middle of their first date. "I do have a question though since I´m a bit new to this," he continued, a bit embarrassed to ask the actual question but trusting that Dawn would understand. "Is one date enough to be a couple or do we need a few more to decide whether or not we are, you know boyfriend and girlfriend?" his question asked, and a nervous smile and an expression of apprehension settled on his face, he waited for Dawn to answer.

"Well that usually depends on the couple in question," she answered after a bit, "In our case, I´d love it if we were a couple already." She smiled at seeing the apprehensive expression slip off Ash´s face, leaving only the brilliant smile on his face. "But that doesn´t mean you aren´t taking me out again!" she pointed out with a giggle, only for him to pull her to him. "Wouldn´t dream of it," he answered before he placed a chaste kiss on her lips. Pulling away they both smiled at each other, their eyes locked for more than a few moments. "We should probably be getting back to Brock, so he doesn´t feel too lonely?" Dawn asked carefully. "If you want to, but there´s no hurry. Brock said he´d probably be on the phone with Lucy while we were gone, so I doubt he´s even registered the time gone by," Ash answered with mirth in his voice. 

Dawn giggled a bit at Ash´s attempt at a joke, but they still ended up packing up their picnic and returning their horde of Pokémon. Around them, as they walked it seemed more and more Pokémon were making an appearance, as several Combee flew overhead and a few smaller Pokémon played in the cover of the flowers. What made Ash narrow his eyes slightly was the Skarmory that zipped by, seemingly carrying someone. He had barely glimpsed it as the sun reflected in its ironlike feathers, but it was enough to make him wonder why someone was in such a hurry. Deciding it wasn´t worth looking into at this time, he walked hand-in-hand with Dawn into the town, a bright smile on his face. 

As they walked into the town, he narrowed his eyes as it seemed a few of the townsfolk were worried about something, so he sped up trying to locate Brock as fast as possible. As they searched for their companion, Ash overheard some whispered conversations, enough that he managed to understand somewhat why the townsfolk were worried. Hurrying along he called up Oak on his X-Transceiver, it calling only a few times before the Professor answered. "Why hello, Ash. What a pleasant surprise, something I can help you with?" "Can you send me my battling Tauros and Pidgeot? It´s rather urgent," Ash answered as he kept on walking briskly toward the Pokécenter where he thought Brock to be. Seeing the serious expression on Ash´s face Oak hurried out to get the two requested Pokémon as fast as he could, returning merely a minute later. "They´re coming through, Ash. Whatever is happening, just be careful alright?" 

"You got it, Professor," was all Ash answered before hanging up the phone. As he, with Dawn still at his side holding his hand, entered into the Pokécenter he called out immediately, "Brock! A bit of a situation!" Nurse Joy and a few of the other trainers present looked at him curiously but stopped paying him any mind when Brock came towards them from one of the booths. "What´s up? You seem agitated?" Ash whispered the answer, careful so as to not spread panic, "It seems Hunter J has been spotted near a mill nearby. I need to get going if I want to get there in time to help. I need you to come after, and keep Dawn safe with you as you do." When Brock nodded, he turned to Dawn, "I need to travel quickly, which means flying Pidgeot. I´ll be safe so please, please don´t argue with me on this?" She nodded, albeit reluctantly, and Ash ran out of the Pokécenter.

When he had managed to hide from sight, he called on Pidgeot, and the two of them shot into the air. He knew the general direction of the mill so he had Pidgeot flying in the direction, hoping he would get there in time. He knew Brock would be right on his heels, so he focused on where to go. Seeing a small cloud of smoke rise in the distance he directed Pidgeot there immediately and came upon a young woman staring down Hunter J and her Salamence. He could hear Hunter J´s arrogant tone as she spoke, "Move aside girl. I´ll get my prize no matter what, even if I have to go through you to get it." Behind the young woman stood an Absol and a Gardevoir, both in no shape to battle any further. 

"How about going through me?" Ash called out, just as Pidgeot picked up speed. Hunter J spun around, startled, and glared at him, "You again?!" Ash smirked, "Yeah, me again. Going to come quietly this time?" He knew to mock her was probably not a good idea, but he had to keep her attention on him and away from the woman. Hunter J snorted, "You wish. Salamence use Hyper Beam!" The giant orange beam soared toward Ash and Pidgeot, but Ash simply shook his head slightly. Without any order Pidgeot moved out of its way, hovering in the air in front of the irate Hunter. "Pidgeot, let´s ground them! Use Hurricane!" The massive wind forced the rather unstable Salamence into the ground, Hunter J stumbling off at the harsh landing.

A few moments later Ash stood on the ground opposite the criminal, staring her down. "Why is it that a kid has the balls to interfere with my business when even most cops shy away?!" Hunter J growled as she rose to her feet again, her vizor cracked enough that Ash could see the steel blue eye behind it. As shrugged, "I have a habit of it. Wartortle, Ivysaur and Pupitar let´s go!" With that command he had his strongest available Pokémon on the field, ready to go up against the Pokémon Hunter. Before anything else could happen though, an Air Slash attack hit the ground in between the two combatants.

In the air just above, floated the Skarmory he had seen earlier and it´s rider. His eyes widened as he recognized the young woman on it´s back, and judging by Hunter J´s furious shout, so did she. "What do you think you´re doing Maraxes!?" the furious voice of Hunter J rang out over the field, carrying way further than Ash had thought it could. The young trainer was none other than Skylar Maraxes, Lance´s cousin, and Ash was utterly shocked that he had run into her already. The young woman had long blonde hair that was fastened in a ponytail, and her icy magenta eyes glared down at Hunter J. "Getting in your way, I thought that was pretty obvious?" she answered with a question of her own, insulting Hunter J in the same breath.

"You´ll regret this, Maraxes!" Hunter J roared, but she seemed to think better of trying to fight both Ash and the new arrival. Without further ado, Hunter J sped off, out of Ash´s reach before he fully understood what was happening. Skylar glared after her but didn´t come down to join the others on the ground. When she tried flying off herself, Ash reacted in time. Sitting on Pidgeot´s back he was suddenly in front of Skylar, and her Skarmory. "Why are you getting in my way kid? I just helped you!" she seemed surprised, and just a bit agitated. 

"Yeah, thank you for that. Doesn´t mean I´ll let you go just like that though," Ash answered, raising his hand and showing her the ring signifying his Elite Trainer status. Skylar blanched upon seeing the ring, knowing he wasn´t going to just let her go. "Shit!" she breathed out, though Ash heard it clearly. "I just want to talk, we don´t need to fight," Ash stated, catching her off guard. "Talk? I don´t exactly see what we have to talk about?" she was guarded now, suspicious and careful. "Relax, I´m a friend of Lance´s," he stated as an explanation, before adding as an afterthought, "And Clair´s come to think of it."

That only seemed to make Skylar more scared, mixed with a bit of anger, which confused Ash. "Why would you talk with me then? My _dear cousins_ must have painted the picture quite well for you," she hissed, venom in her voice. Ash rose an eyebrow, "Actually I don´t know a thing about you besides what I read on the 'List'. Lance asked me to talk you down if I came across you, said he wanted to talk to you. Help you if he could." That only seemed to make her even angrier, "Help me? Why would he help me now? He didn´t help me back then! Why would now be different!" The wind roared around them, having picked up just a few minutes ago. Tearing at their clothes, and ruffling their hair, as the two stared at each other.

"I just said I don´t know anything about your situation, I´m just repeating what he told me. What can it hurt him to talk to him? Let´s just land and I can call him, you don´t even have to speak with him in person," Ash tried. He saw the conflicting feelings in Skylar´s eyes, but ultimately, she nodded slowly. Carefully the two of them landed, Skylar because she knew that Ash might be able to bring her in, and Ash because he didn´t know how Skylar was about to react. Both of them let their Pokémon stay outside of their Pokéballs, and met in the middle of the two large birds. "You seem a bit young to be an Elite Trainer?" Skylar commented carefully, perhaps a bit suspiciously. "I´m 16, by the same logic you should be too young to be able to flee from Elite Trainers," Ash answered, a bit of a cheeky grin on his face. Skylar blinked at the answer, but nodded her head, acquiescing the point. Ash brought his X-Transceiver up, and calmly dialed Lance´s number. It took a few moments before Lance picked up, and when he did the first words out of his mouth were, "I´m a bit busy Ash, can this wait?"

Ash glanced sideways at Skylar and answered, "Too busy to speak with your cousin?" Upon finishing his question, he turned the X-Transceiver toward Skylar, letting Lance see her. "Skylar!" Lance exclaimed, before addressing the persons that were obviously in the same room as him, "I´ll be taking this one, take a short break." A few moments later Ash and Skylar heard the sound of a door closing, and Lance gave them his undivided attention. "It´s good to see you, Skylar, how are you doing?" he started. She narrowed her eyes at his small talk, before answering, "I´m well enough. Why do you want to speak with me now, Lance? Why now when we haven´t spoken in nearly seven years?" 

Lance took a deep breath and looked at Skylar, "Because we never knew what the situation was." He rose a hand, silencing Skylar´s retort before it came. "Not an excuse, an explanation. We found out how your dad had been treating you a few weeks after you fled, and by then you were in the wind. I know you´re disappointed in me, and Clair, and the Elders, and you have every right to be. The Elders judged you by your father, which couldn´t be further from the truth, and Clair and I, we stood by and didn´t help. I understand your frustration with us, and I want to make it up to you. I´ve cleared it with the other Champions and with Mr. Goodshow, and we can clear your record. You never stole Pokémon, and to be frank you always doubled checked the background of those you sold to, so they were never mistreated. So, we all agreed that we can expunge your record and officially register you as a trainer if that is what you want." 

A myriad of feelings flashed over Skylar´s face as she listened to her cousin, shock, anger, longing, hope, and happiness being the main ones. "Please, Skylar. Let me try to make up for my mistake?" For all but a minute, everything was silent before Skylar nodded softly a melancholy smile on her face. "Where do I need to go to get this to happen, Lance? Make no mistake I´m not sure about this, but I´ll trust you this one last time. If you´ve lied to me, never again. If…if this is true, I might come back after the Sinnoh League, I think this is the League I want to challenge first," she answered, a bit hesitantly and scared it seemed. "Jubilife. I´ll meet you personally in Jubilife in two days?" Lance asked hopefully, glad his cousin hadn´t rejected the idea out of hand. Skylar nodded, "Only you. If anyone else is there I´m gone." Lance nodded with a smile, and agreed, "Me alone." With that Skylar jumped onto Skarmory and flew into the sky, in the direction of Jubilife. "Lance, you still there?" Ash asked, turning the X-Transceiver toward himself again. "Yeah, was there anything else?" Lance asked, his violet eyes filled with happiness. "Goldbloom. Remember I got you to let James, Jessie, and Meowth off the hook? Apparently, Meowth knew of her," Ash started. Taking a deep breath, he continued shortly after, "He said that Giovanni, the Team Rocket boss, had taken an interest in her. One she refused, and Meowth thinks Giovanni framed her. Worth looking into at least." 

Lance looked at him seriously for a few moments, "Will do, Ash. If you meet her, apprehend her and call me first, alright?" Ash nodded solemnly. "Alright, I need to get back to my meeting," Lance finished and hung up the phone. Ash took a deep breath and gazed forlornly into the skies, only turning with a smile upon hearing his new girlfriend coming towards him from the side. "Ash!" She nearly tackled him and hugged him tightly, causing him to smile widely.

 **A/N:**

 **Alright, finally managed to conquer that damnable block. I am so very sorry that this chapter is late, but as I explained in the A/N on top I´ve had some issues to settle. A few things I want to say before I let it off for today:  
**

**Magenta and violet are both shades of purple, which I decided to make the Ibuki clan signature trait, similar to the Targaryens in GoT for those of you who watch/read that series. Clair´s eyes are amethyst in this story, in case some of you were wondering.**

 **The mill scene with Hunter J actually comes before the gang comes to Floaroma in the anime, and I didn´t want to miss out on some action. Sorry to those of you that wanted a purely relaxed chapter, not actually possible for me.**

 **Skylar will return, as a rival at a later date. That is actually the plan I had for her as an OC when I made her. I know how Goldbloom´s story plays out already, but that isn´t for a while yet.**

 **So next chapter is meeting some old friends and the start of a new contest at the very least, maybe a new Pokémon. If I feel like I can make the timing right that is. Guess we´ll see.**

 **Till next time!**


	17. Decisions and Dilemmas

**A/N:**

 **Alright, so I´m again apologizing for the time it took to get this out. Which is really starting to become an annoying habit of mine, especially since I know how much I hate waiting on new chapters of the stories I myself read. That said I have no excuse, I´ve just been a lazy ass with no motivation to write, so…**

 **Before the chapter actually gets underway, I want to state this clearly. I do not dislike Kenny, I simply see him as an immature easily angered young teenager who is not used to not getting his way, in addition to being prone to jealousy. That is the reason he acts the way he does in my fic and no other reason.  
**

**Still, don´t own anything, this is simply for entertainment purposes.  
**

**Let´s get going, shall we?**

 **Decisions and Dilemmas**

The trio returned to the Pokécenter nearly three hours later, having opted to forego flying and simply taking a nice leisurely walk. "Did you ever find out if the contest is happening?" Ash asked curiously, just as the three of them crossed the threshold of the Pokécenter. Dawn rose an eyebrow daintily and smiled amusedly at Ash. "When did you think I had the time to find out about that? We went into the flower fields nearly immediately upon arrival, and we didn´t even fully make it back to the Pokécenter before we rushed out again," Dawn pointed out mirthfully, laughing a trilling laugh as she finished. Ash blinked, but then he let out a chuckle. "Yeah, that´s true. I need to send Tauros and Pidgeot back to Oak, will the two of you find us a booth for dinner?" Dawn and Brock nodded, knowing Ash would have to eat soon as the clock was nearing four in the evening. 

Ash found himself a quiet corner, leaning on the wall, and dialed up Professor Oak. After the first two rings, Oak picked up looking very pleased with seeing Ash on the other end. "Ash, wonderful to see you. Michael and Delia are here as well, we were planning on having dinner together. Did your situation work itself out?" While the Professor kept talking animatedly Ash´s parents had walked over and into view of the videophone, smiling at Ash. Ash nodded with a large grin on his face, before he finally cut Professor Oak´s continued ramblings off, "Yes, Professor. We resolved the situation, without undue danger mum." The last bit hastily added as his mother seemed ready to start another one of her rants, causing his father to smile as his mother blushed at the gentle reminder that Ash could look out for himself. 

"I wanted to send Tauros and Pidgeot back, though I didn´t get to use Tauros. Or well, I forgot actually…" Ash trailed off, blushing in embarrassment at the admission. Getting an idea, he added, "Though I might ask you to send over some of my Tauros when we get to someplace where we need to travel over large open spaces. Considering our next major hurdle is the Ilex Forest, I doubt riding Tauros will be beneficial." He rubbed his chin in thought, "I´ll come back to you when I know, but for now I´ll send the two of them back over." Eager to get back to Brock and Dawn, he followed that up quickly by sending the two Pokémon back to the lab. "Alright, I need to get back to the others. Talk to you later!" he finished and hung up, having decided against the brief impulse to tell his parents about his girlfriend. -No, I think I´d like to go on a few more dates before I tell mum, he thought to himself.

Returning to the others he recognized a small commotion and realized that the commotion was actually caused by a reddish brown-haired young man speaking to Dawn. "What do you mean? Why wouldn´t you want to travel with me?" the young man complained loudly. Ash rose an eyebrow at that, though a small smile threatened to break out on his face despite himself as he realized the young man had asked Dawn to travel with him and she had refused. -Probably, someone, she knew from before by the way they´re speaking to each other, Ash thought to himself. "Because I already have travel companions Kenny, and I have no wish to part from them yet. Ash, there you are!" Dawn explained, seemingly exasperated before she noticed and greeted her boyfriend over her friend´s shoulder. 

"Who´s your friend, Dawn?" Ash asked, amusement dancing in his eyes as he sat down next to her. "This is my childhood friend, Kenny. Kenny this is my boyfriend, Ash," Dawn introduced the two to each other, causing a rather furious expression to manifest itself on Kenny´s face. -Mhm, I guess Kenny had feelings for Dawn that were a bit beyond friends, Ash thought looking at the expression. "So, you found an older coordinator to help you out then?" Kenny asked, his tone a bit clipped but still respectful. "I´m not a coordinator," Ash stated, not really paying attention to Kenny any longer as he readied his plate. That seemed to be too much for Kenny, "So you're blowing me off to travel with some guy who isn´t even a coordinator?" 

Kenny´s face was red with anger, and he stepped towards Dawn menacingly. Only to find that in the split second it took him to blink after he had gone off and stepped towards her, Ash had moved to stand between the two. For the first time, Kenny really took in Ash´s appearance, a powerful young man who had gotten his muscles from hard work and determination and certainly not someone you wanted to end up on the bad side of. "She has already stated that she is traveling with us, she happens to be my girlfriend and despite what you might think I am rather more capable of helping her than you," Ash had to work very hard not to snarl at the presumptuous young man in front of him. Ash´s eyes had taken on the hard-steely look they always got when he got angry, glaring down at Kenny. The height difference was rather telling as Ash stood at 1,78 looming nearly 15 centimeters taller than Kenny.

Despite the obvious difference in stature between the two, Kenny´s anger wouldn´t allow him to back down. "You´re not a coordinator so how can you be more capable of helping her than I am? You´re a Gym Trainer, you don´t know how to properly perform in a Contest," Kenny claimed, while a few of the other trainers present in the Pokécenter shook their heads ruefully. Before Ash could say anything to answer Kenny another voice spoke up from the sideline, "You really should learn to pay attention, at least then you´ll have all the information before you run your mouth." The statement had come from a young woman with long blonde hair, which curiously had a single streak of black, who was currently glaring at Kenny with ice cold blue eyes. "What do you mean?" Kenny stuttered, not fully understanding why the woman would take Ash´s side.

"Really? All coordinators, especially newbies such as you, should pay attention to their competition. That means actually watching the contests you don´t participate in," the woman answered, not arrogantly but with confidence stemming from experience. "That is Ashura Ketchum, and while he is a Gym Trainer, he has also won a few contests before. He probably would have won in Jubilife if he hadn´t worried that Aipom would be injured, which was the right call before you try saying anything on the matter," the woman explained, cutting Kenny down when he opened his mouth to comment. "Besides he is one of the most powerful trainers in this center right now, so pissing him off is probably not a good idea," the woman kept going, glaring at Kenny until a young man with spiky dark green hair came over and slung his arms across her shoulders, embracing her. "Lissa, calm down. He´s just an inexperienced youngling, he doesn´t know any better," the guy claimed, kissing the blonde´s cheek.

Finally having an opportunity to take a shot, Kenny spoke, "Him? One of the most powerful trainers in here? No way." Ash rolled his eyes, way too used to someone denying his skill because of his age. "Kid, I´m an Elite Trainer. I can probably beat every single Pokémon you have on you with a single one of mine," Ash stated confidently. He wasn´t arrogant, and he didn´t actually want to embarrass the kid, but he couldn´t just let it go. Kenny laughed sarcastically at that, only to find that the two newcomers looked at him with pity in their eyes and Ash was totally unaffected by his disrespect. Angrily he shouted at Ash, "Prove it then!"

Ash rose an eyebrow, "I´m having dinner with my best friend and my girlfriend at the moment. I´m not just leaving because you throw a temper tantrum." Kenny´s face turned red with rage, but a smirk appeared on his face, "Oh so you´re scared you're not as good as you say?" Obviously believing that would get a reaction out of Ash, and it did, just not the one he had expected. Ash laughed out loud at hearing the weak attempt at promoting a reaction from him, even Paul had been better at it than this kid. It was Dawn sighing that caught Ash´s attention, prompting him to ask, "What´s up, Dawn?" "Just battle him, Ash. Kenny´s too stubborn to give up, and we won´t be able to relax before you beat him," Dawn answered, glaring at her childhood friend for disturbing her peace and quiet. Ash rose an eyebrow again, black hair hanging from his head and nearly obscuring his eyes. "Are you sure, Dawn? I wouldn´t want to embarrass your friend," he asked, just to clarify that Dawn was certain with what she asked. 

When she nodded, Ash shrugged his shoulders and got up. "Hey, Moriarty! You care to stand as judge for a minute?" the question was asked to the guy who had just led the blonde-haired woman away. It seemed to shock him for a second, before he snorted, "Kid really has no idea, does he? Yeah sure, I´ll preside." "How do you know his name, Ash?" Dawn seemed interested, knowing the young man hadn´t introduced himself. "Same way the two of them knew mine, I guess. There are about 120 Elite Trainers currently registered with the League, considering they are the top contenders for the Leagues I keep up to date with the info on any of them," Ash answered shrugging, "The guy is Cain Moriarty, he´s the highest ranked Elite Trainer registered for the Sinnoh League this year. To be honest, if there´s anyone in this center I wanted to battle it´d be him. I´m guessing the blonde who chewed Kenny out is Melissa Cortez, don´t know much about her except the fact she is a skilled coordinator and Moriarty´s fiancée." 

Dawn seemed shocked, "That information is readily available? What if someone wanted revenge or something on an Elite Trainer?" Ash answered simply as they kept walking toward the backyard, "The information is readily available to Elite Trainers, you need a login and an ID chip that resides in your Elite Trainer identification. Mine is here in my ring." He showed her the Pokéball shaped ring, before walking away from here and positioning himself on one end of the battlefield, directly across from Kenny. "Are you sure you want to do this, Kenny? You´re still one of my girlfriend´s friends," Ash stopped up for a second letting the wind ruffle his hair. He turned to Dawn, "He is still one of your friends, right? Thought it might be good to check and not assume, I´ve gotten in trouble for assuming before."

Dawn giggled a little and nodded her head, "He´s still my friend, though he can at times be too stubborn for his own good." Ash nodded, turning back to Kenny with a smirk playing on his lips, "I can see he is a stubborn one, Dawn. If he wasn´t he´d have backed down, though I guess that can be pride too and not just stubbornness. Heavens know I have my fair share of both." Kenny seemed a bit confused as to whether that was to insult or to acknowledge him, so he decided to simply ignore it. The next question was asked by Cain Moriarty from his place as judge, "Hey kid. Kenny, right?" Getting a nod, he continued. "How many Pokémon do you have to fight against Ashura´s one?"

Kenny seemed a bit taken aback, "You mean to tell me you really believe he can defeat me with only one of his?" The anger and resentment in his voice were evident to all present, which included the remaining trainers in the center. A few of them seemed to be in agreement with Kenny, almost finding it laughable and obviously not believing that Ash was really an Elite Trainer. Moriarty proved to be intelligent enough not to aggravate Kenny even further, keen to be done with it, "That wasn´t what I said. The challenge that was made was that he could, and that is what the battle will be. You defeat his one chosen Pokémon and you win." Moriarty proceeded to shrug his shoulders, and pointed out "You didn´t answer me, Kenny."

"Four," Kenny grit out, angry at what he perceived as being looked down upon. "Alright, so the match will be Kenny´s four Pokémon against Ashura´s one! As Ashura is only allowed one Pokémon in the match, he will get the advantage of choosing his matchup. Kenny will send his Pokémon out first!" Moriarty ruled officially, which settled the spectators. About ten other trainers were situated around the battlefield to watch the match, aside from that Nurse Joy had come out to see what became of the confrontation. "Bibarel let´s get busy!" Kenny announced his first Pokémon. "Oi, Moriarty. You can just call me Ash, only one who has called me Ashura since I was six is my mum, and then only once," Ash called out to Moriarty, who acknowledged it with a slight bowing of the head.

"Who do you think, Pikachu?" Ash asked, gazing up at his clearly in thought partner. "Pi-pikapi," Pikachu seemed to answer after a few moments, though the only one who understood what was said was Ash. "Alright, if you say so," Ash commented and fetched a Pokéball from his belt. "Pupitar, let´s rumble!" "The first two Pokémon are Kenny´s Bibarel versus Ash´s Pupitar. Let the match… begin!" he announced, before taking a quick step backward to allow more room for the battle. "Alright, Bibarel let´s start off with…" was as far as Kenny got before Ash took charge of the match. "Sandstorm into Stone Edge, then Dig!" he commanded easily, and within moments the entire field was covered by a raging sandstorm, the residue wind pressure crashing against the battlers and judge. Ash and Moriarty had no problem standing upright in the onslaught, casually keeping an eye on the match. Contrary to that Kenny had thrown an arm up to shield his face from the sand, and had to put a foot behind him to keep his balance. 

The Stone Edge rocked Bibarel heavily, causing more than just moderate damage to the Normal- and Water-type. When Pupitar shot out of the ground and crashed into its stomach, it proved too much for the rather inexperienced, and from what Ash could tell newly evolved, Pokémon and it fainted just as Pupitar allowed the Sandstorm to die down. Kenny gaped at the powerful Pokémon and his own fainted friend, "Oh no! Bibarel, are you alright!?" The outburst pleasantly surprised Ash, who had thought Kenny to be too caught up in his anger and jealousy to care for his Pokémon until later. 

A few of the non-believers, the ones who had doubted Ash could win with a single Pokémon, were forced to reassess their judgment, that had seemed way to easy for to be a simple coincidence. Though others still stood steadfast that Ash couldn´t win, though they were now in a significant minority. "You want to keep going, Kenny?" Ash asked gently, not really feeling into this battle. He found it hard to get fired up for what was essentially teaching an overconfident rookie the lesson of humility, a lesson he admitted it had taken him way too long to learn himself. Kenny, less boisterous than he had been but still determined, nodded and released his new Pokémon, "Alakazam let´s go!" The new addition to the battlefield managed to take Ash slightly by surprise, something that was mirrored in Moriarty.

-How does a rookie who hasn´t been traveling for more than a few months at most have a Pokémon the likes of Alakazam on his team already? Ash thought to himself, really unbelievably perplexed. That´s when it hit him, "You evolved that Alakazam from a Kadabra as soon as you could didn´t you?" "Of course, I did, we wanted him to be as strong as possible!" Kenny exclaimed, thinking that was obviously the best way to have done things. Ash sighed but decided to at least try to explain it to him. "Kenny. Evolving a Pokémon solely for its power is rarely the best way for that Pokémon to gain power, especially in the cases such as Alakazam and Gengar who can be evolved forcibly by trading them or naturally by training. Evolving them by the trading route usually leaves them unable to use their full power, the power they can only get by training. It still contains that power, it just can´t access it before it gets used to the power at its disposal already."

Moriarty was nodding along, clearly in agreement with Ash on the matter but content to let his younger peer explain it. Kenny seemed surprised by the statement, as well as the fact that at least a few of the older, and thus more experienced, trainers present seemed to be in total agreement. Left with only one person he knew without a doubt he could trust to give him an unabbreviated truth should he ask, Kenny turned to Nurse Joy. "Is that true?" Nurse Joy seemed to search for the words to best explain it, settling finally and beginning her explanation. "It is true, in a sense. Your Alakazam would be notably stronger than it was as a Kadabra, but had you trained your Kadabra to evolution not only would your Alakazam be exponentially more powerful than it is now, it is probable that your Kadabra would, at the time right before evolving, have been stronger than what your Alakazam is now. So, the truth is that what Mr. Ketchum just said is the truth and your Alakazam needs to train before it can access the full depths of its new powers."

Being faced with what he was forced to accept as fact due to the medical and theoretical knowledge of Nurse Joy, Kenny slumped down slightly. Before he brightened a bit and spoke clearly, again impressing Ash and the other experienced trainers present, "It seems I´ve done wrong by you Alakazam, but we´ll work through it won´t we? We´ll make you as powerful as you can possibly be, it will just take some work from both of us." Getting a happy thumbs up from Alakazam, Kenny turned back to Ash. "I´m slowly coming to realize that you might actually be as much better than me as you and the others pointed out. I´d still like the chance to take you on the rest of the way if that´s alright? I want to see if I can learn something new." 

Ash, as well as Moriarty, Cortez, and Brock rose an eyebrow at that statement, not fully believing that this rookie had taken his lesson so well and so easily, all knowing they had struggled to learn the same lesson in their time. Ash smiled, "Alright. I´m down for that, you up for it Pupitar?" Pupitar answered by pirouetting around a few times and slamming heavily down on the ground, implying an eagerness to continue battling. "He´s good to go. Moriarty you starting us up again?" Moriarty nodded, getting back to the battlefield. "Second Pokémon of the match for Kenny is Alakazam. The battle is between Ash´s Pupitar and Kenny´s Alakazam. Let the battle…begin!" he shouted, again springing backward to get out of reach of any stray attacks.

"Start off with Light Screen and Reflect, Alakazam!" Kenny ordered immediately, hoping to lessen the damage Pupitar would be capable of dishing out in a short amount of time. "Sandstorm!" Ash ordered once again, the field becoming obscured in an instant. "Future Sight!" Kenny ordered, trying something different from a direct attack. Ash rose an eyebrow, a bit interested in what Kenny was thinking. In the end, he decided that he had to make a move regardless of what Future Sight might bring, so he spoke clearly. "Good move, Kenny. I have no clue when Future Sight will kick in, but then again neither do you. Pupitar let´s wrap this up quickly. Pin it down with Rock Slide and fire a Dark Pulse when it can´t dodge!"

It took all of three seconds for a shower of rocks to trap Alakazam between them before a black and purple beam of pulsating energy slammed into its stomach and sent it flying through the rocks at its back. When it landed with a heavy thud, Alakazam was clearly unable to battle. After Moriarty´s call, Kenny shook his head ruefully. "That Pupitar is really impressive, Ash," he called over the field. "One last Pokémon I want to give a shot if you´re alright with that?" he asked. "Wouldn´t you prefer to allow your Pokémon some rest before tomorrow? Far as I know the Contest starts tomorrow morning?" Ash asked, turning to Dawn just to be absolutely certain. "Yes, Ash. The Contest starts tomorrow morning, and yes I did register in time," she answered both of her boyfriend´s unasked questions, a smile present on her face the whole time.

Ash smiled back at her, "But if you´re sure you want to battle instead of letting your Pokémon rest, I´m up for it." Kenny seemed to think about it, before coming to a decision. "Your right, I guess. I should let my Pokémon rest for the Contest tomorrow. I look forward to competing with you Dee-dee," he spoke, finishing with quite a cheeky grin toward Dawn. Dawn, in turn, flushed an angry red, and screamed, "I hate that name, Kenny!" Ash rose an eyebrow and vowed to himself that he would never give Dawn a nickname or endearment she didn´t first approve. That reaction was explosive, to say the least, and judging by how Kenny had skipped out the second the nickname had left his lips he knew exactly what it would be. 

The new couple looked at each other, Dawn still a bit upset at the nickname and Ash shaking his head ruefully. "Well, I guess we can go back to our dinner then?" Ash commented lightly, causing both Brock and Dawn to smile slightly and nod their heads. It was later that evening when the three had finished eating and were sitting in comfortable silence, that Ash asked Dawn, "Have you decided which Pokémon you´re going to use?" Dawn sat there, thinking about which Pokémon she wanted to use for a few moments before answering. "I´ll be using Buneary for the appeal and Piplup for the battle stage again, I haven´t had enough time to work with Pachirisu. I don´t know need to think about a variation to Buneary´s appeal though, I don´t want it to be the same as last time," Dawn commented, tapping her chin as she thought about her appeal. "I know you´ll be able to find a brilliant way to show off Buneary, Dawn. I need to get some training in myself, so if you´re alright with it I´ll leave you to think about it alone? The training field out back is vacant at the moment," Ash assured her, before pointing out his own need for some training. Dawn blinked at him, before smiling and nodding her head. She knew she couldn´t expect him to always be with her and hold her hand through every process, something she had to do on her own. 

Sitting there in she got an idea from seeing the multiple flashes of light that came from outside as Ash had his Pokémon sparring against each other, the night´s sky filled with happy sounds coming from them. And thus Dawn´s plans changed drastically from what she had first envisioned, a smile playing on her lips the entire time.

"And now ladies and gentlemen allow me to welcome you all to the Floaroma Contest! Today these boys and girls, men and women all compete for the illustrious Floaroma Ribbon!" the conferencier announced loudly the day after, just shy of 10 in the morning. Ash and Brock were present in the crowd of course, though Pikachu had fallen asleep on Ash´s lap instead of sitting vigilantly on his shoulder. Dawn was sitting backstage dressed up in a pink dress, with a rather large red ribbon in her hair and two curly bangs hanging at either side of her head. She was currently somewhat struggling to keep her cool, breathing deeply to steady herself.

"Nervous, Dee-dee?" a voice asked, a bit of smug satisfaction evident in it. "Of course I am, Kenny. Being nervous means you care, and I still dislike that nickname." She glanced over at him, seeing the pink dusting over his cheeks at her dress. -I´m just not interested in you that way Kenny. And I have Ash at the moment anyway, Dawn thought to herself, though she couldn´t help but be pleased that she could elicit such a reaction from her friend anyways. "True, but how well you´ll perform depends on how well you keep your nerves in check," Kenny pointed out, sitting down beside her.

"He is right you know?" the comment came from Jessie, who was sitting at a mirror just a bit off from where Kenny and Dawn were sitting down. She spun around and smiled at the young girl, "Take another deep breath and think about what you want, why you want it and how to get it. Staying focused on the objective always helps to keep the nerves under control." With that, Jessie turned back to the mirror and kept carefully applying her makeup, though she seemed to be conscious not to put too much on. "Where´s Ms. Cortez?" Dawn asked, not seeing the young woman anywhere. Kenny shrugged, "Might be she is just scoping out the competition, and not participating this time?"

"Before we start this round of appeals allow me to introduce our judges! The President of the Pokémon Fan Club, Mr. Sukizo!" The camera panned for a few seconds showing the tanned, but very short President of the PFC. "The Chief of the Pokémon Activities Committee, Mr. Contesta!" Again, the tv displayed the judge for a few moments, before showing the conferencier again. "Floaroma´s very own, Nurse Joy!" And so, the last judge was shown on stage, so the conferencier continued his announcement, "And so we have come to the start of the Floaroma Contest. Are you ready!?" With a huge cheer from the crowd, the conferencier announced loudly, "Then let´s get this show on the road! Our first contestant is Gabriella Montoya!" 

**A/N:**

 **Yes, I decided to end it there mostly because I like having the wordcount skip by round number when I post the chapter. That means chapters that are 5k, 10k and so on. I think it will be fairly easy to get that word count out of a chapter that is at the very least getting 3 appeals, and probably 3 or 4 contest battles (that is to say the next chapter). I apologize profusely for the rather unnecessarily long delay in posting this chapter, I have had a few personal problems to work through, along with my muse wanting to work on something different and me being sick repeatedly (which is not fun).  
**

**Melissa Cortez and Cain Moriarty are both OC´s, Moriarty will be implemented in the Lily of the Valley Conference but probably not before that. I am unsure if I want to use Ms. Cortez yet, but I might.**

 **For those wondering what my muse wanted to work on, the answer is a Harry Potter fanfic. I got a bit lost in my own head being sick and ended up in a constant stream of HP fanfic to read, that derailed my muse somewhat. As always I´m not giving up on the story, but losing my muse and consequently getting a heavy writer's block will make it difficult to update. It happens, but I do hope you enjoy the chapter regardless.  
**

**I hope to see you next time, just as I hope next time is sooner rather than later.**

 **Till then!**


	18. Curtains Open for the Second Act

**A/N:**

 **Alright, I´m again going to try having this chapter out before too long. This time people should probably remember that I have openly stated that I´m writing two different fanfics, so I´ll write on the one my inspiration goes to. It really is that simple.**

 **Anyways, I don´t think I have anything else to say at the moment.**

 **Boby335:** **Do you want to PM me and say which conversations in specific you are talking about? Makes it easier for me to avoid such a thing in the future if I know the point you are talking about. All I really know now is that it´s in Chapter 9…**

 **Disclaimer: As always I do** _ **not**_ **in any way shape or form own Pokémon, nor do I receive any monetary gain from writing this.**

 **On to the chapter then!**

 **Curtains open for the Second Act!**

As the first few contestants made their appeals, Dawn got more and more nervous. Though personally, she felt more at ease this time than she did before her last contest, and she did her best to keep calm by going through her breathing exercises. "And now for our next contestant please welcome Mrs. Jessie Kojirō!" Marian, the proper and official contest announcer who had just returned from extended leave, shouted out, to the cheers of the crowd. When Jessie stepped onto the stage the crowd erupted, as the admittedly attractive 25-year-old was wearing a rather tight orchid-colored dress. It had a rather prominent split up the left side but kept a modest neckline. She was also wearing a few delicate pieces of jewelry to compliment the ensemble, and a pair of high heeled shoes to finish it off. 

"It´s time to shine, Dustox!" Jessie called, allowing her Poison Moth Pokémon to take the stage. Following her Pokémon onto the stage was a small cloud of rose petals, which Dustox´s beating wings sent upwards in a small spinning tornado. "Use Poison Powder followed by Gust, my dear!" The sprinkle of purple dust flowed out from underneath Dustox´s wings and latched onto the rose petals which were then sent flying into the air, spreading the dust in cones around themselves. "Now use Psybeam!" The brightly colored beam hit the particles of poisonous dust, making them sparkle brilliantly in a myriad of colors. "Finish it off with Silver Wind, darling!" Following her words, a heavy gust of wind, carrying silver particles of light, crashed into the brightly illuminated rose petals causing them to explode in a shower of multi-colored light which rained down onto the stage beneath. With their piece done, Dustox landed on Jessie´s shoulder and she curtsied to the crowd before confidently striding off the stage.

-She really is skilled at this, Dawn thought to herself, watching how elegant Jessie looked on stage. "That…was impressive," Kenny stuttered beside her, not knowing Dawn actually knew her. "Yeah, she is really good," Dawn mumbled, not really trying to answer him. Before he could continue the rather one-sided conversation, Kenny had to get up as he was called forward to be on standby as the next contestant. Kenny was dressed in a lime-colored uniform, close to a military dress suit, with golden shoulder pads. Together with this, he wore a red bowtie and a white undershirt, with a pair of rather fancy shoes to finish the ensemble off. 

"Let´s go, Alakazam!" Kenny shouted, lobbing his Pokéball overhead. A thick purple smoke cascaded out of the Pokéball, leaving only the shadowed silhouette of Alakazam to be seen. "Psychic!" Within seconds a pair of eyes started glowing iridescently blue within the smoke, which parted into seven equal portions. "Now use Light Screen!" Kenny ordered, smiling widely as he did. The screens created seven boxes around the seven clouds of smoke, though it seemed to strain Alakazam to do so. "Shadow Ball!" Again, seven Shadow Ball´s appeared, and though few spotted it Alakazam´s hands shook slightly in with exertion before the soared through the skies and entered the Light Screen cubes. Within the cubes, the Shadow Ball seemed to absorb the purple smoke until the exploded breaking the Light Screens in the process, and glittery powder rained down onto the stage. Kenny and Alakazam both bowed, standing side-by-side before they left the stage to cheering and applause. 

Up in the stands, where they sat watching the contest, Ash commented, "That was barely. Alakazam almost lost control of his attacks there." Brock nodded slowly but didn´t answer the comment verbally. The two waited through the next three entries, conversing quietly with each other while waiting for Dawn´s appeal. "And for our next contestant… Dawn from Twinleaf Town!" Marian announced finally, gesturing toward the entrance to the stage.

Hearing the announcement Dawn took a deep breath and walked out onto the stage with a smile. "Pachirisu spotlight!" Dawn announced, releasing her newly caught Pokémon onto the stage. Of course, that took Ash completely by surprise, and he wasn´t quite sure what Dawn was planning. -I thought she had planned to use Buneary again? What is she planning?, he thought to himself.

The shower of pink hearts that cascaded out of the Pokéball all seemed to spontaneously burst, as tendrils of blue lightning shot unbidden out of Pachirisu. "Alright, let´s start with Spark," Dawn said with a smile. Pachirisu looked up at her, cocking her head to the side, and then with a chitter of happiness started darting around the stage covered in blue electricity. Pachirisu jumped, rolled and pirouetted around the entire stage in seconds, leaving a trail of blue light after her. "Alright, use Super Fang," Dawn asked, throwing something Ash had no clue what was into the air. Pachirisu though seemed to know exactly what it was because she didn´t waste any time at all to chomp down on the pink substance. "And spin around while using Discharge!" Dawn continued. Pachirisu landed and started running around in a rather large circle, shooting lightning upwards. This pillar of lightning was only broken when Dawn finished her set by saying, "Now use Fake Tears!" Pachirisu stopped running immediately and gazed up at the crowd, bringing its tail in front of itself and held as if it was a plushie toy, with glistening unshed tears in its eyes. The combination of the tail 'plushie' and the unshed tears, had nearly every member of the crowd cooing at the adorable little Pokémon. Dawn curtsied, before making her way off stage. 

She breathed deeply, attempting to reign in control over her emotions again as her blood rushed through her veins and her heart thumped hard in her chest. Upon returning to the waiting room she found Ash and Brock waiting for her, them having made their way down to the waiting room while she was collecting herself in the corridor. "That was amazing, Dawn! Though I did think you were going to use Buneary again?" Ash complimented while walking over to his girlfriend and enveloping her in a quick hug. "I was originally, but I changed my mind when I saw your training last night. I´m so glad that it worked out as well as it did, I was really afraid that it would be too early for Pachirisu," Dawn answered, a smile splitting her face. "Excuse me, miss? Do you want a free Poffin? It comes complimentary to all Coordinator´s that have finished their appeals, for their Pokémon of course," a teenage girl asked Dawn, a young girl of about five holding a basket standing by her leg.

"Yes, thank you. I really should reward Pachirisu for working so hard, and giving a good performance," Dawn answered before she reached out and took a pink pastry from the basket. As she called Pachirisu out, she noticed that her Pokémon´s eyes glazed over almost immediately upon smelling the pastry. Giggling slightly Dawn held it down to Pachirisu, "It´s for you, Pachirisu. A reward for the contest." Giving a happy squeal her Pokémon leaped at the Poffin, dancing around while munching on the pastry. "I think I might like learning to make those, Pachirisu seems to enjoy them at least," Dawn commented off-handedly. The teenager who had given them out responded, still standing not far from the group waiting for the next Coordinator to return to the waiting room, "My bakery is holding a Poffin baking class in two days, they wanted to wait until the contest was finished first. You´re welcome to attend."

Dawn smiled back at her, "I think I might like that, is it alright with you two that we wait just a while longer?" Ash shrugged, "I don´t have a deadline for anything, so I don´t mind. It actually gives me some more time to train before continuing onwards. You don´t mind do you, Brock?" The older teen shook his head, "No, I might actually like to join the class." Ash turned back to Dawn and smiled, "There you have it." The three sat down holding a quiet, calm conversation while they waited for the appeal round to finish up. It kept going for a few more appeals, only one of which Ash found in any way impressive, though that could be because of the amount of wonderous and magnificent things he had seen during his travels.

"And now, here we are announcing the final eight!" Marian announced to the roaring cheer of the crowd. On the screen behind her eight cards showed up, and slowly, agonizingly so, the cards turned around one by one revealing the eight contestants that had moved on from the appeal stage. When the seventh card turned and Dawn still hadn´t shown up, she stopped breathing in her nervousness. Then the final card spun around revealing that Dawn had managed to barely eke out a place amongst the finalists, allowing her to take a much-needed sigh of relief and a deep gulp of air.

"Good going Dawn! Just relax and focus on what you need to do during the battle rounds and this might go your way," Ash complimented and encouraged his girlfriend. Smiling, with a light dusting of pink in her cheeks, Dawn nodded and started to focus intently on the task ahead of her. Ash nodded to Brock before the two of them headed back into the stands to await the battle rounds. "And the first battle of the Floaroma Contest is between Jessie and Miruva!" Marian exclaimed, as the result of the random selection lit up the screen above the stage. 

Jessie stepped onto the platform from one side and waited patiently for her opponent to arrive. The young woman that entered the field opposite her was a fairly attractive girl. She had black hair styled in a pixie cut, with a few lilac streaks. Her clothes consisted of a midnight blue and black skirt that reached her about half-way down the thighs, and a lighter ultramarine sleeveless crop top. She had several piercings in both her ears, having three studs in the flip of her left ear and a barbell through the upper part of it, and two studs with the barbell in her right. In addition to that, she had a butterfly piercing in her belly button, which was probably the reason she was wearing a crop top. Her nose was small and her rosy red lips were curved upwards in a smile, as gleeful twinkles danced in her shamrock green eyes.

"Contestants choose your Pokémon!" Marian stated, a faint hint of laughter in her voice as she did. Jessie went first, her sangria colored hair floating graciously in the air as she moved, "Seviper, I choose you!" The large dark grey and yellow serpentine Pokémon appeared in a shower of dark pink bolts of electricity, before landing with a heavy thud on the battle stage. "Ninetales let´s go!" Miruva mirthfully proclaimed, allowing the nine-tailed fox to appear on stage accompanied by a mysterious purple mist. "Jessie has chosen Seviper, while Miruva will be battling with Ninetales! Are you ready!?" Marian exclaimed, gesturing to the crowd. "Let the battle…begin!"

The crowd erupted as Jessie and Miruva both tensed, ready for the battle. "Use Flamethrower!" Miruva yelled, making the first move. Ninetales sprang into the air-breathing a huge torrent of flames towards Seviper, illuminating the entire stadium in an orange glow. "Dodge that and use Poison Sting!" Jessie countered; a look of concentration was fixed onto her face. In an impressive display of agility and flexibility, Seviper twisted her body around to completely avoid the massive Flamethrower, before firing her powerful Poison Sting attack. The shower of venomous pins struck true and pushed Ninetales backward as they crashed into her. Miruva looked shocked for a moment before she rallied and ordered Ninetales, "Ninetales use Extrasensory!" 

The psychic energy rolled off of Ninetales´ tails and shattered the stream of venomous stings. "Follow up with Dig!" Miruva continued, a smile spreading across her face. "Seviper feel the vibrations to follow where Ninetales is, and counter with Poison Tail," Jessie commanded. Within moments Ninetales had disappeared from the stage, into a hole, but Seviper seemed undisturbed. Only seconds later Ninetales sprang up behind Seviper, only to have her paw met by Seviper´s tail covered in a toxic layer of mucus. The attack sent Ninetales careening backward, unbalancing her in the process. "Poison Fang, let´s go!" Jessie ordered. It didn´t even take seconds before Seviper followed the command, seemingly having anticipated it and started moving before the command was given. Due to the extremely short time it took, and the fact that Ninetales was still unbalanced, it was impossible to dodge the attack, and Seviper´s fangs sank into Ninetales´ shoulder. 

"Ninetales! Shake it off and use Psychic!" Miruva ordered, her expression betraying her panic. It took a few moments, but Ninetales managed to dislodge Seviper and send it flying backward by use of her psychic powers. "Fire Blast!" Miruva followed up, a bit less panicked but not entirely calm. The heat of the Fire Blast struck violently out into the arena, causing more than a few of the spectators to break into sweats. Even Miruva herself felt the heat, as her hair had plastered itself to her forehead. Strangely Jessie seemed wholly unaffected by the drastic increase in temperature, as was Ash and Brock. "Seviper use Dig to escape," Jessie asked her Pokémon calmly, not showing any distress about the massive attack at all. Moments later the attack flashed over Seviper´s position, but when the smoke settled only a slight hole was present. "Shit!" Miruva near-whispered, knowing that Seviper had managed to use Dig before the Fire Blast connected. "Come on up and use Dark Pulse!" Jessie ordered. Seviper´s head was all that appeared over the ground before the attack was launched, slamming heavily into Ninetales side and sending her crashing into the ground.

Before either of the two could give another order a loud, obnoxious buzzer let out a massive ring, signaling the end of the battle. "And the victor of the first battle is… Jessie Kojir ō and her Seviper!" Marian yelled out, her announcement met with a loud cheer and applause. Ash and Brock even applauded their once antagonist, before Ash heard a question directed at him. "Hey, why weren´t you two affected by the heat of that massive Fire Blast?" a random spectator asked, and Ash could see that many others were wondering the same judging by the attention leveled on himself and Brock. He shrugged, "Probably because I have several powerful Fire-types myself, so the heat from a Fire-type attack doesn´t bother me too much anymore." "Not to forget the Cinnabar Gym, the thing is fought in an active volcano," Brock casually added, his attention still focused on the two new coordinators on the stage. The two of them were the recipients of a large number of incredulous stares, not that it mattered much to them.

Down in the contestants´ lounge, Dawn was trying hard to get her nerves under control. She looked up at the screen to see the end of the second battle, as one of the coordinators, a Tyson of Violet City, had his Ursaring knock his opponents Granbull out. "And the winner of the second battle is Tyson and his Ursaring!" Marian called out, another massive cheer accompanying the announcement. "The third battle will be between Silver Hagan of Hearthome City and Kenny Kengo of Twinleaf Town! What will their Pokémon be!?" Marian roused the crowd. "Prinplup, let´s go!" Kenny shouted, releasing his partner in a torrent of water. Prinplup landed with a heavy thud on stage, the water crashing around him.

"Time to crash the party, Honchkrow!" The Big Boss Pokémon burst out of the Pokéball in a shower of raven feathers with its wings spread wide, casting a large shadow against Prinplup. Silver looked quite intimidating himself actually, with his long blood red hair. He looked to be in his mid-20´s with a goatee in the same color as his hair. He had a diamond ear stud in his left ear, which glinted in the light. His piercing ice blue eyes betrayed his mirthful disposition, and his mouth was genuinely smiling. He wore a long-sleeved black shirt of thin material, with scarlet trimming. Coupled with dark blue baggy jeans and black leather combat boots, Silver made for a rather spectacular sight. "The third match will be between Silver´s Honchkrow and Kenny´s Prinplup. Are you ready!?" When the crowd roared at her last question and both contestants gave their signals, Marian continued, "Then let the third match… begin!" 

"Prinplup use Bubblebeam!" Kenny started off quickly, hoping to get an early advantage. "Knock it away with Steel Wing and retaliate with Air Slash!" Silver spoke calmly, not the least bit concerned. Honchkrow´s wing turned a metallic sheen, refracting the light off of it, and simply battered the incoming Bubblebeam away. It then slashed its wings through the air, sending a discernible wind blade cleaving towards Prinplup. "Prinplup dodge it and use Bubblebeam!" Prinplup seemed to have other ideas though, simply standing there and clawing through the attack with Metal Claw. The counter worked, but it still cost Kenny points as Prinplup had ignored his order. The following Bubblebeam did connect with Honchkrow, as the Pokémon was stunned to see another Pokémon disobey its trainer like that. 

"Honchkrow use Dark Pulse!" Silver commanded, his voice having taken a rather hard tone. He was not pleased with having to face a coordinator who didn´t know how to cooperate with his Pokémon, and so wanted to end it quickly. Kenny, having realized that Prinplup wasn´t going to dodge and that he couldn´t break that particular habit while in the contest, yelled out, "Deflect that with Metal Claw and use Ice Beam!" The Dark Pulse hammered into the cross Prinplup had put its flippers into, before Prinplup deflected it into the ground to its left. The Ice Beam that followed soared swiftly over the stage, only to be countered. "Honchkrow use Steel Wing, followed by Shadow Ball!" Silver commanded, raising an eyebrow at Kenny´s sudden shift in style.

Up in the stands, Ash commented quietly to Brock, "Kenny might win this, but he and his Prinplup has a lot of work to do. Prinplup just forced Kenny to adapt to a whole new battle style in the middle of a contest, not many trainers can do that successfully." Brock solemnly nodded his agreement, the two of them in agreement as usual. The explosion of dust that followed Honchkrow´s Shadow Ball being redirected caught Ash´s attention again, his eyes focused on the match.

"Good going, Prinplup! Now let´s use Water Pulse!" Kenny asked, a smile visible on his face. Prinplup charged and fired three Water Pulse attacks in rapid succession, much to Silver´s surprise. That surprise wasn´t enough to halt his reaction though, as he quickly gave his Honchkrow orders to counter. "Meet those attacks with Shadow Ball!" Honchkrow acquiesced its trainer by quickly shooting three Shadow Balls, all of which crashed into a Water Pulse each. Silver and Honchkrow were both taken by surprise when a fourth Water Pulse soared through the smoke of the explosions and impacted devastatingly into Honchkrow´s chest. "Now follow up with Metal Claw!" Kenny shouted an order Prinplup hastened to follow. The Metal Claw impacted directly into Honchkrow´s head and sent it crashing to the ground, where it remained lying down. 

With that, the third match was concluded and Kenny would move on to the semifinals, yet he was unsure how he would handle it if Prinplup would not listen to him. The thought raced through his mind as he headed down to the contestants´ lounge, only barely registering that the next match would be Dawn against a young woman named Carolyne.

Dawn was understandably nervous as the time came to begin her second ever battle round, and this time being the last one qualified. "Which Pokémon will our two last quarterfinalists choose?!" Marian asked loudly, hyping the crowd further. "Espeon time to shine!" Carolyne announced her partner with a flourish, a cascade of multicolored stars flying out of the seal together with the Eeveelution. "Piplup spotlight!" Dawn called for her partner, the tiny penguin Pokémon appearing in the midst of a small shower of bubbles.

"Start off with Psybeam!" Carolyne ordered immediately, slightly catching Dawn off-guard. "Dodge that, and use Bubblebeam!" Dawn countered, hoping her slight hesitation wouldn´t hurt Piplup. To Dawn´s joy, Piplup managed to dance out of the way, and fired the Bubblebeam truly. "Use Psychic and then proceed with Signal Beam!" Carolyne commanded, her confidence unshaken. The light blue light of psychic energy covered Piplup´s Bubblebeam and forced it down, before two beams of light, one rose red and one a fern green color shot swiftly towards Piplup. "Bide!" Dawn ordered quickly, the light of the attack covering Piplup´s body shortly before the Signal Beam connected. Carolyne smirked wildly, "Espeon use Zap Cannon!" Dawn´s eyes widened in panic, but still managed to shout, "Piplup, you have to fire that Bide now!" 

Up in the stands, Ash rose an eyebrow, "Espeon can learn Zap Cannon? How did I not know that?" Brock looked at him and shrugged, "Far as I remember we´ve only faced one trainer with an Espeon, and Anabel certainly didn´t have hers use Zap Cannon. I didn´t know either, but I will bet anything that Espeon is extremely powerful." "Hope Dawn knows what she´s doing," Ash whispered, so quietly that not even Brock managed to hear him.

Dawn´s command to fire the Bide proved to be an effective counter, and the enormous pillar of light not only met the Zap Cannon but destroyed it and crashed into Espeon. "Use Whirlpool!" Dawn yelled, intent on finishing the round. The massive attack swooped down and enveloped Espeon, spinning the Eeveelution around and around. "Bubblebeam!" Dawn asked, a bit of a relieved smile on her face. Piplup released the Whirlpool, knowing it would take a little while to recede on its own, and fired the Bubblebeam into the swirling water. The impact of the bubbles proved effective and the Whirlpool coupled with swirling bubbles proved an effective contest combination, and Carolyne´s points plummeted to zero as a result of the relentless chain of attacks. 

She watched stunned, but shook it off after a while and walked over to Dawn sticking her hand out. "Well done! I really thought I had you with that Zap Cannon. I thought Bide took longer to charge?" she commented as Dawn took her hand. "It does if you want to store more power, but it was the only option I had. That Signal Beam must have been powerful for Piplup to store all that power so quickly. You battled really well yourself," Dawn answered her questions first, before remembering her manner and complementing her opponent.

As Dawn walked down to the contestants´ lounge she heard the announcement of the first semi-final round, Kenny against Tyson. She took several deep breaths, calming her raging nerves again, the adrenaline pumping through her veins. As she focused on keeping her calm, she didn´t pay much attention to Kenny´s match, only barely catching Marian´s announcement at the end. "And the winner is… Kenny of Twinleaf Town! The next semi-final match is between Jessie and Dawn!" Marian called out excitedly. "Will the contestants please find their way to the stage!?"

A little less than a minute later Dawn stood opposite Jessie, both of them smiling at each other. "I´m looking forward to battling you," Jessie stated, her voice happy and friendly. Dawn smiled and nodded her agreement, still trying furiously to keep calm. "Contestants release your Pokémon!" Marian spoke, nearly being drowned out by the cheer of the crowd despite the microphone. "Seviper I choose you!" Jessie called out her serpent, which landed much more gracefully this time compared to the previous round. "Piplup spotlight!" Dawn called, her partner appearing in another shower of bubbles.

"Seviper use Poison Sting, and then Wrap!" Jessie started the battle off, as soon as Marian had given the start signal. "Piplup use Whirlpool as a shield!" The swirling tide of water appeared in front of Piplup, catching every single one of the Poison Stings and breaking them into a fine purple powder that rained down upon the stage. Seviper however, managed to slither to the side and circumvent the Whirlpool capturing Piplup in a heavy Wrap. "Use Poison Fang!" Thinking quickly as the attack neared her immobilized starter, Dawn ordered, "Piplup use Bubblebeam!" The attack slammed into Seviper´s face, halting the Poison Fang and weakening the Wrap. "Now Whirlpool!" Dawn yelled, trying to catch Seviper and Jessie in a position they couldn´t recover from. "Seviper let Piplup go, and use Dig!"

The Fang Snake Pokémon hurried to follow the command and escaped the Whirlpool into the ground. "Piplup direct that Whirlpool into the hole!" The massive amounts of cascading water that followed Seviper, forced the unfortunate Pokémon to the surface and right into the path of Piplup. "Bubblebeam!" The attack once again slammed heavily into Seviper´s face, knocking the Fang Snake Pokémon backward. "Now use Peck!" "Counter that with Poison Tail!" Dawn smiled slightly, "Spin Piplup!" The last command confused everyone until Piplup spun a little to the side dodging the incoming Poison Tail. Piplup´s elongated beak hit Seviper in the neck and sent the Fang Snake Pokémon down for the count. 

Just as Jessie was about to issue another command the buzzer rang, and Jessie gritted her teeth. Looking up at the scoreboard it was evident that Dawn had managed to come out on top, much to Jessie´s frustration. Swallowing the feeling, Jessie crossed the stage. "You did well. I wish you luck in the final match," Jessie stated, holding her hand forward for Dawn to shake. Dawn took the hand and smiled brightly, "Thank you. You were really good too."

As the two walked off the stage they heard Marian announce, "There will be a short intermission of 10 minutes before the final match which will be between Kenny and Dawn, both from Twinleaf Town!" When Dawn reached the contestants' lounge, she sat down a fair bit away from Kenny, who was already in the lounge. Her intention of wanting to focus was clear, so Kenny kept his distance, though it was obvious he would have rather approached her. Ash and Brock didn´t come down, knowing that before the final any coordinator would want absolute focus on what was in front of them. Final, after the 10-minute break was over, Marian called out over the speakers, "Will the two finalists please come to the stage!?" Only a short time later, Dawn and Kenny stood opposite each other on the stage.

"Ready, Dee-dee?" Kenny asked with a cheeky grin on his face, purposely annoying Dawn. Or at least he tried to, doing her exercises to keep calm Dawn had also found a tremendous focus. A focus she was channeling heavily into the battle, so she answered easily, "I´m ready."

"Will the finalists please choose their Pokémon?" Marian asked, the crowd deathly silent. "Piplup spotlight!" "Prinplup let´s go!"

 **A/N:**

 **Before anyone comments on it, I know that the Pokémon universe doesn´t differentiate between poison, venom, and toxins. However, I do. For those unsure of the difference, poison is something you ingest (read eat/drink), venom is something you´re injected with (like through a snake bite) and toxins are usually secreted through a skin or organic material (toads and mushrooms have different types of toxins). Just wanted to have it on here in case anyone wanted to know why I called the pins of the Poison Sting attack venomous instead of poisonous, cause that´s what they are.**

 **Yes, the idea for Silver Hagan is the rival of the Gold and Silver games. Why? I don´t have a clue, it popped into my head and I ran with it.**

 **I´d like to apologize for the lateness of the chapter, but this time I actually have a good reason. Shortly after the last chapter went out my exams started and all my attention went to studying. And after my last exam, I had two days before I started working for full, one of which was used to travel eight hours by car to move home again. And since I started working I´ve only managed to write small bits at a time. So that´s why it´s taken so long this time.  
**

**So next chapter I will be writing the final, and the Poffin class which both Dawn and Brock will attend. That chapter will probably end with the group leaving Floaroma, and maybe one more event that I had planned before the Ilex Forest.**

 **So till next time!**


	19. The Journey Leads into the Windy Valley

**A/N:**

 **So, I have said and will continue to say, that I don´t mind flames, I really don´t. However, when you leave a review for the sole reason of complaining about something I wrote, I feel you could at least do me the courtesy of not hiding behind the moniker of 'guest'.  
**

**Duja89:** **You have a bit of the same issue as the guest reviewer I mentioned above, though your way of stating it is far more pleasant. The answer is pretty simple: I like a challenge. I find little in this fanfiction universe more challenging than writing appeal performances, so that´s why I write them. I might tone them back a bit, as it seems some of you are not too fond of them. I did mean Eterna Forest, though Ilex will probably be brought up in either this chapter or the next.**

 **For everyone else who might or might not have caught it, I made a mistake with the forest name in the bottom A/N in the last chapter. As it is just the A/N I won´t be changing it.**

 **Just a heads-up for people, some Gym Leader names, like Brawly, Morty or Bugsy, irk me, so I´ve changed them. Of course, they still go by those names, but now they´re nicknames and not given names. For example, Bugsy´s given name in my universe is Bernard, Morty´s is Mortimer and Brawly´s is Brendan. Just in case that information becomes relevant, and I think it might.**

 **Oh, and I decided that I agreed with the story moving a bit slowly so I decided to skip just a bit forward. I apologize to any of you who would have wanted me to write the final and poffin class, but it really wouldn´t have been all that interesting in my opinion.  
**

**I don´t think I have anything else to say at the moment, so let´s go!**

 **Onwards to the chapter!**

 **The Journey Leads into the Windy Valley!**

Dawn was still smiling wildly when they finally left Floaroma three days after the end of the contest, holding her Floaroma Ribbon up in the air. The final against Kenny had been hard fought, but she and Piplup had in the end managed to eke out a victory on points. As agreed, the group stayed for a few days after the contest had finished allowing Dawn and Brock to participate in the cooking class tailored for beginners in Poffin baking. Ash, of course, had used the time to train, having little interest in the Poffin class. "So, have you made any thoughts about what you´re going to do about the Eterna Gym?" Brock asked as he heaved himself over a rocky section of the path. The sun was blazing high in the sky, drenching Brock and Dawn in sweat as they exerted themselves in trying to keep up with the more physically fit Ash.

Curiously the wind was blowing heavily throughout the valley they were currently walking through, and the leaves of the trees rustled continuously. "Well I promised Quilava a spot on the team, and I´d rather like using at least one of my Sinnoh captures. Probably Staravia," Ash mused loudly, standing still and waiting for his two companions to catch up to him. "Have you made any thoughts regarding a third Pokémon, in case the match is three on three?" Brock asked, breathing a bit heavily. "I have, but I´m undecided whether I want Torkoal or Noctowl," Ash shrugged, a frown on his face. "Well you still have some time to decide," Brock stated calmly, his breathing evening out as they had taken a short break. 

"Hey, guys?" Dawn called out, grabbing their attention at once. "What´s up?" Ash asked. "What Pokémon are those?" Dawn asked, pointing into the sky. Looking almost like clouds floating in the air a flock of Altaria and Swablu were lazily moving about, circling around a few trees probably looking for food. "Altaria and Swablu," Ash answered her, "They are actually rather elegant Pokémon with some serious power behind them. I get you want one, but I don´t recommend trying to capture one of them." Dawn turned to stare incredulously at her boyfriend, "Why not?" She seemed genuinely perplexed, so Ash decided to explain it pretty simply. "That´s a flock, Dawn. Attack one of the Swablu and all of the Altaria will attack us. Attack one of the Altaria and the rest of the flock will flee," Ash said easily, before continuing at seeing Dawn´s still slightly confused face, "Altaria are powerful Pokémon, Dawn. I´m not sure you´d be able to control one easily, never mind the fact that you have to catch it first." 

His words seemed to sadden his girlfriend, bringing a slight sigh to Ash´s lips as he knew he´d end up helping her catch an Altaria despite his misgivings. "I can still try, right?" Dawn asked, an uncertain tinge in her voice. "Go ahead, we´ll be right here if anything happens," Ash stated, waving his hand in the direction of the Pokémon. Before she chose her Pokémon she asked quietly, "They´re Flying-types so Pachirisu should be the best choice right?" Brock calmly corrected her slightly, "Actually their Flying- and Dragon-types, so Buneary´s Ice Beam is probably your best bet."

"Right," Dawn nodded, a decisive expression making its appearance on her face. "Buneary spotlight!" The small brown rabbit Pokémon appeared in a moment, a bit of a confused expression on its face. Dawn kept looking at the Altaria, seemingly analyzing them to make her decision on which one to capture. "What are you waiting for?" Ash asked her quietly, genuinely surprised. "I´m trying to find one of them that´s not too powerful, I thought that might make it easier for me," Dawn answered without taking her eyes off the flock. Ash nodded slowly, admitting silently that it was a good idea.

"That one," Dawn finally said, gazing towards a smaller Altaria. "Buneary, Ice Beam!" she commanded, letting her Pokémon know which of the birds it was supposed to attack. As the Altaria never suspected a thing the Ice Beam hit it directly between the wings, freezing them up and making the Altaria crash helplessly into the ground. The sudden action spurred the rest of the flock into the air, and within moments the only one left was the downed Altaria. "Dizzy Punch!" Dawn ordered, only to gasp slightly when the Altaria sent a devastating Dragon Breath directly at Buneary. "Dodge that and fire another Ice Beam!" Dawn ordered, gritting her teeth as the Altaria struggled to its legs.

Buneary sprang into the air, letting the Dragon Breath pass harmlessly underneath and fired the Ice Beam at Altaria. Not used to being on ground Altaria had no chance to avoid the super effective attack and stumbled backward at being hit again. "Now Dizzy Punch!" This time Altaria couldn´t counter, as it was still reeling from the earlier hit. The attack slammed into its head and sent it bouncing off the ground. Obviously dizzy after the hit, Altaria got to its feet unsteadily. "Use one more Ice Beam!" Dawn yelled, a bit of a smile on her face. The Ice-type attack connected once more with the Dragon- and Flying-type, freezing most of its body except its head. Dawn took a deep breath and fetched an empty Pokéball from her belt. "Alright, Pokéball go!" she announced, as she sent her Pokéball at Altaria. 

The Humming Pokémon disappeared into the ball in a flurry of red light, before the ball started convulsing violently. Altaria, despite its damage and fatigue, seemed adamant about escaping the Pokéball, but ultimately it proved too much for it. With a satisfying click, the Pokéball signified its successful capture, almost making Dawn jump in joy at her capture. "I caught it, I caught it!" she chanted, spinning around with her Buneary in her arms. "You did, but keep in mind that Altaria is a Dragon-type. They seem friendly and well behaved, but they still have a ferociousness that can be terrifying," Ash advised his girlfriend, hoping she wouldn´t learn that the hard way. Dawn nodded eagerly, but Ash wasn´t fully convinced she had understood what he meant.

"Altaria come on out!" Dawn called, letting her freshly caught Altaria out. Her Humming Pokémon seemed apprehensive but allowed her to approach it. "Hi, I´m Dawn and I´m going to be your trainer from now on. Do you want me to use a Potion on those injuries?" she asked it gently, a bit careful not to spook the Pokémon. Altaria glared at her for a moment, before nodding slightly. -Prideful Pokémon that one, Ash thought to himself.

When Dawn had healed Altaria´s injuries, the Pokémon took to the air and landed in a tree some way off from the group. "Altaria! Come back!" Dawn tried calling out to the bird, but only got a glare and a scoff in return. "Why´s it acting like this?" Dawn asked unhappily. "Altaria is a proud Pokémon Dawn, and though you did catch it you started off with a surprise attack," Brock answered, rubbing his chin in thought. "It might just be that it doesn´t respect you yet, and Ash did warn you about this," Brock finished, pointing out that Dawn had been warned that Altaria wasn´t going to be easy. Dawn perked up somewhat, "You´re right! I just need to earn Altaria´s respect!" She smiled as she considered that, and Ash smiled at seeing her go from sad to happy.

"Help! Please, you have to help!" a young girl came running out of the forest. Her clothes were covered in mud, and she had a few scrapes and bruises. What caught the group´s attention most of all though was the fact that the young girl looked panicked and had tears streaming down her cheeks, running towards them as fast as she could. Dawn walked forward and let the girl run straight into her arms, while Ash and Brock tensed slightly and scouted the forest for anything that might be a threat. "What´s wrong?" Dawn asked the young girl, carefully rocking her. "My dad…He works at the… at the Wind Works, and… and someone just attacked it!" the little girl nearly screamed, her sobs breaking the sentence into fragments.

"The Wind Works?" Ash asked, glancing at Brock who had retrieved his Pokégear. A few moments later Brock answered, having read the information on the route, "This valley is known for a power plant that generates natural energy, also known as the Valley Wind Works. It is about twenty minutes in that general direction." He had pointed out a direction with his hand upon saying the last bit, and Ash nodded. "We´re going there, to see if we can render assistance. Girl?" He crouched down to be eye-level with the little girl, catching the girl´s attention. "Can you get to Floaroma? Let them know what´s going on," he asked of her, getting a few shaky nods in answer. "Crobat come on out," Brock suddenly called out his trusted Poison-type. "Keep her safe until Floaroma and then come back to me, alright?" Brock stated gazing up at his hovering partner. "Cro!" the purple four-winged bat cried out, nodding its head.

"Altaria return!" Dawn called, the red beam hitting Altaria and pulling it back into the Pokéball. The three started hurrying toward the Wind Works, as the young girl kept going towards Floaroma with Crobat as a guardian. The day still seemed idyllic, but that was the farthest thing from Ash´s mind as the trio kept pushing forward. Harsh sunlight still glinted in small droplets of water trailing down the leaves, as small Water-types kept the forest hydrated. The trio didn´t rush, cautious of being taken unaware if they did. After about 15 minutes the three of them saw the Wind Works for the first time, along with the three vans stationed outside it and several oddly dressed men walking about.

The men and women walking around all wore the same outfit, a uniform Ash realized quickly. The uniform consisted of a sleeveless, turtlenecked white shirt with distinct black details and a stylized G in the center of its chest. Underneath this shirt, they wore a grey long-sleeved undershirt, which had a paired piece of leggings that disappeared into a pair of pearl river grey boots. There was a difference between the male and female uniform though, as the female uniform´s shirt ended in a short skirt while the males wore a pair of black tight-fitting shorts completely separate from their shirts.

"Brock, I think we´re dealing with another crime organization," Ash whispered, carefully keeping his voice low and his body out of sight. Brock let out a long sigh, "That´s not good, how many of them are there?" Ash shook his head, "Couldn´t count them, but there are three vans outside." Just moments later Crobat silently returned, landing on Brock´s shoulder. "Damn it, we have to intervene. Call Officer Jenny, Ash, we need the police here," Brock answered, gritting his teeth. "We´re intervening?" Dawn asked shocked, clearly a bit scared of the implication.

"We have to, Dawn. I don´t know what this organization wants from the Wind Work, but it´s unlikely to be good," Ash explained, taking a deep breath. "Let´s go," he finally stated a look of grim determination etching itself onto his face. Dawn took a deep breath, before following after the two older teens a bit timidly. 

What seemed like the grunts of the organization shouted out immediately when they spotted the approaching trio, "We have intruders! Let Commander Mars know!" One of the female grunts nodded before she headed into the Wind Works. "Let´s deal with them!" the same grunt ordered, and a group of Pokémon was released from the grunts. A few Stunky, Houndour, Zubat and Murkrow were there, but the most threatening was released by the one giving orders, a Nidorino. Curiously Ash noticed something he hadn´t from a distance. -They all have turquoise hair, is it part of the uniform?

Quickly recollecting himself and pushing it out of his mind, Ash refocused on the battle ahead. "Wartortle I choose you!" Ash shouted, releasing the Turtle Pokémon. Brock´s Crobat floated in front of its trainer, ready to battle it out with anyone daring to harm him. "Let´s go!" Dawn called out, and both her Altaria and her Piplup emerged from their Pokéballs. Altaria immediately moved off to the side, sitting in a tree to watch the events unfold. "I´ll handle the Nidorino, you focus on taking out the others," Ash stated in no uncertain terms, Wartortle nodding slightly at the words. Upon getting confirmation from Brock and Dawn, Ash let his attention go fully onto the battle.

A soft rush of wind ruffled his clothes, the black tank top shifting. Ash had foregone the jacket as the weather was too warm for it, though he still wore his fingerless gloves and long pants. A glint from the top left window of the Wind Works was all it took for the battle to start, the two opponents both tensed. "Wartortle use Ice Beam!" Ash commanded, his voice a bit hollow and emotionless. "Counter that with Sludge Bomb!" the officer yelled.

The two attacks met mid-air resulting in an explosion, sending a crashing wind cascading over the open field. "Hydro Pump!" The water sparkled menacingly as it shot forward toward the Nidorino, hitting it in the hind legs as it tried to dodge. The attack forced Nidorino into a spin, opening it up for a follow-up attack. Ash let his concentration slip for a second, hurriedly casting a glance over at Dawn. -I should have told her to stay out of this. She´s not ready, he thought to himself. "Thunderbolt!" The sudden shout claimed Ash´s attention again, and he quickly turned toward the Nidorino. The Electric-type attack had been let fly, soaring blindingly fast towards Wartortle. 

"Dodge it, and answer with a Hydro Pump!" Ash yelled, not willing to let Wartortle take a hit like that. Wartortle sprang aside, letting the Thunderbolt flash by him harmlessly, and shot off a tremendous attack as an answer. The Hydro Pump slammed heavily into Nidorino, whose trainer had not been prepared for the counterattack, and sent it careening back into the base of one of the Wind Works many mills. "Ice Beam!" Ash ordered, letting his eyes wander over toward Dawn again. The young trainer was having difficulties fending off three of the grunts, one of which suddenly smiled maliciously and seemed to order his Zubat to do something Ash couldn´t hear. 

The order became evident when Zubat sent an Air Slash toward Dawn, something that would heavily injure her. "Dawn!" Ash roared, trying to warn her as she hadn´t seen the attack yet. Wartortle, having just finished encasing Nidorino in ice, saw the attack and tried spurring into action, but it was evident that he wouldn´t reach his trainer´s girl in time. Dawn noticed the attack shortly before it was about to hit her, and brought up her arms to shield her upper body. Instead of hitting Dawn the Air Slash slammed into a large cloud-like wing covered in the greenish energy of a Protect, much to the joy of both Ash and Dawn. "Altaria! Thank you!" Dawn cheered, her Piplup managing to squeak out a weak thankful cry despite its injuries.

Altaria nodded to Dawn and turned a glare towards the grunts. Dawn stood back a little, shocked yet pleased at the turn of events. "You want to battle?" Altaria nodded, before swooping one wing down to pick Piplup up and deposit the injured starter into their trainer´s arms. "Alright! Altaria use Dragon Breath!" Dawn shouted, a lot more confident when than she had been shortly before. The massive stream of greenish flames burst out of Altaria´s beak, sending all three of the grunts Pokémon back.

Ash let out a sigh of relief, now more confident that Dawn would be fine. "Wartortle let´s clean up! Use Hydro Pump!" Ash said, a confident grin now present on his face. A little distance away Brock was having little difficulty in taking down the grunts, though he had released Graveler to help his Crobat. Within the next 15 minutes Ash, Brock, and Dawn had managed to take down a dozen grunts and their commanding officer, though Ash knew the toughest challenge was inside the Wind Works. 

"Brock, Dawn, watch these guys. I´ll go see what I can do to help the workers inside," Ash told his companions, knowing that what he was doing was certainly dangerous. -I really should have had more backup here, but I need to go now, he thought to himself. Brock nodded, but Dawn seemed hesitant to allow him to go in alone. "Are you sure about this, Ash?" she asked timidly, not wanting him to go. "Sure? No, I´m not but I have to do this, and I need you safe which means staying here with Brock," Ash answered honestly, feeling trepidation for going inside alone. Dawn seemed a bit displeased at the answer but didn´t comment any further. 

Ash released Ivysaur from his Pokéball as well and gazed down on two of his oldest and most powerful Pokémon. "Alright, this is going to be difficult, and quite possibly dangerous, so I want the three of you," he glanced swiftly up at Pikachu on his shoulder, "to be on your guard." Getting three serious nods in return, Ash took a deep calming breath and headed in through the open door to the Valley Wind Works. The inside was eerily quiet, and rather dim probably the result of a power outage created by this organization, whatever it was called. Slowly, cautiously, tip-toeing through the power plant, Ash was surprised that he was not being accosted by any more grunts.

When he finally came to what was obviously the researchers´ and engineers´ workstations, an open office with several desks where computers flashed, Ash saw the workers and a woman who had to be Commander Mars he had heard the officer yell to inform of their intrusion. She wore an outfit pretty similar to one of the female grunt uniforms, with a few differences. Instead of an undershirt of grey, hers was black with a white dress over it, ending in a rather overdone skirt edge at the bottom. She wore black tight shorts that ended a bit under her knees, over the same sort of grey tights the grunts wore which disappeared into the same kind of boots. Another major difference was that this woman did not have the same turquoise hairdo as the grunts, but rather a unique hairstyle in a fetching amber color.

"Just give me what I need and nothing else has to happen," Mars angrily spat at the workers, who, though tied up and helpless, refused to aid the woman. "We won´t help terrorists like you in any way," one of them said, glaring right back at the woman. The man sported a full beard that had probably been well trimmed earlier, but was now sporting small stripes of blood seeping out of the man´s mouth and was tangled heavily.

The woman´s fists clenched, and she seemed to vibrate in her anger, before she calmly spoke, "Very well. Purugly take care of this one." She had pointed directly at the man who had answered her, and the large cat-like Pokémon got ready to pounce on the man. "Ivysaur use Vine Whip!" Ash called out, reacting on instinct rather than thought. Just as the Purugly sprang into action, the vines grabbed hold and slammed it heavily into the wall. "I won´t let you do anything else against them," Ash growled, readying for a fight. The woman sneered at him but before she could attack him, she seemed to get puzzled by something. Only then did Ash recognize the earpiece she had on, and knew that whatever had stopped her had come from the other end.

"You´re certain?" she asked into the communication device and waited for a reply. "Shit, alright I´m pulling out," she spoke, obviously having got confirmation on some rather bad news. "Return," she spoke, pointing a Pokéball towards Purugly and recalling it. Before Ash got in another word or had time to react, the woman jumped through the window, breaking the glass. Ash ran over and gazed out of the window, only to see the red-haired woman free a few of the grunts and escape into one of the vans with them.

Ash gritted his teeth but decided that it was more important to make sure the workers were alright than to follow them. It took him only a few moments to release the workers from the ropes binding them, courtesy of a Razor Leaf from Ivysaur. As he helped them up, he asked them calmly, "Are you alright? No serious injuries?" The bearded man shook his head in the negative, before one of the scientists interjected, "My daughter! I have to find her, she ran!" Ash grabbed a hold of the nearly hysterical man, who Ash now realized had been gagged while they were bound, and tried his best to reassure him. As the group walked outside, Ash was nearly sent sprawling by Dawn jumping into his arms. "Oh, I was so scared! We saw that Commander woman jump out of the window, and you didn´t follow and… and I didn´t know if something happened or…" Dawn had started babbling incoherently at this point, only to be silenced by Ash giving her a rather tender kiss.

"I´m fine, she got a message of some kind and bolted because of it," Ash stated, though he wasn´t sure what the message had been. Most of the grunts were still bound tightly in the rope Brock had carried with him because he would rather be overprepared than underprepared. "We´ll have to watch these guys until the police get here at least, but I don´t have a clue what they wanted with this place," Ash ground out through clenched teeth, his frustration about letting their Commander escape shining through. 

They didn´t have to wait too long as about 10 minutes later a small regiment of police officers emerged from the forests, led by Officer Jenny and her partner Arcanine. "I´m guessing the three of you are the ones that Jess met with?" Officer Jenny asked, gazing appraisingly at the companions. "Jess?" Ash asked uncertainly, not understanding who Officer Jenny was referring to. Brock, on the other hand, did understand, "She probably means the little girl, Ash. Yes, that was us. The Crobat that escorted her belongs to me." 

Officer Jenny smiled gratefully at them, "Thank you for making sure everyone was safe for us, but I must admit that I am not entirely pleased that you went in unsupervised." Ash nodded absently, his mind elsewhere completely and therefore did not inform Officer Jenny that he was an Elite Trainer and thus expected to act if he came across these situations. "That said I only need you to answer some questions and then you can be on your way," Officer Jenny continued, a smile prevalent on her face.

Answering the questions took about 20 minutes before the trio was on their way again. This time though their pace was more sedated as Ash´s mind was swirling, and the two others didn´t wish to force the pace the same way Ash might do. All around them the inhabitants of the forest were going about their merry way, birds chirping and smaller Pokémon running around playing in the tall grass. Several old withered trunks crisscrossed each other around the companions´ feet, almost tripping the still thoughtful Ash.

When they had walked a good long while, and moved onto a rockier terrain instead of the grass filled valley, the trio was stopped by two trainers clad in red and black tracksuits. The two trainers looked to be brothers, maybe even twins. The only real difference between them was that one of them had short spiky hair, and the other had slightly longer hair styled in a short ponytail. Both the brothers had brown hair and similar facial structures with small noses and a robust jawline. "Halt! All who wish to pass here have to defeat the two of us in a tag battle," one of the brothers called out, holding up his hand with the palm facing towards them. "You do realize you can´t stop us from moving forward into the Eterna Forest, right?" Ash asked incredulously, a frown marring his face.

"We have no wish to stop you," the other brother stated calmly, before lightly slapping the back of his brother´s head. "What the knucklehead was trying to say was, we challenge you to a tag battle," he finished, a slightly sleepy glare aimed at his brother. Ash chuckled slightly, "I don´t mind a battle, but a tag battle means I need a partner. One of you up for it, Brock, Dawn?" Dawn seemed thoughtful for a moment before she answered, "I think I want to give it a try, I just hope I don´t mess up." Ash simply waved her concern off, "Everything is a learning experience, so if you mess up you learn from it."

Dawn smiled brilliantly at him, her worry easing immensely as she heard Ash´s reasoning. The sleepy brother seemed to wake a bit more up at the prospect of battle, "Oh, we forgot to introduce ourselves, didn´t we? I´m Zane and that is my twin brother Xander." Xander grinned at them, rearing to go. "Alright, I choose you, Croconaw!" he called out his partner. "Shinx, let´s go!" Ash called out, deciding it was time to let Shinx get some battle experience. "Altaria come on out," Dawn called, her Altaria coming out with a screech. It looked curious for a moment, gazed over at Dawn and then seemed to grow disinterested. "Oh, come on Altaria, don´t be like that," Dawn whined. "Quilava, time to battle!" Zane called out his partner. 

The four of them stared each other down, well Altaria looked distinctly bored. "Let´s start this off with Hydro Pump!" Xander called out. "Counter that with Spark!" Zane peered at Shinx and then ordered, "Quilava use Flamethrower!" "Altaria use Dragon Breath!" Dawn tried, to no avail. While Shinx leaped to the side and avoided Quilava´s Flamethrower and proceeded to part Croconaw´s Hydro Pump in two with its Spark, Altaria simply looked upon the battle with a bored expression on its face. "Altaria?" Dawn looked at her Humming Pokémon perplexed.

"Discharge!" Ash shouted, letting rip Shinx´s newest, and probably most powerful, attack. Despite the fact that Shinx pulled it off, it took a lot out of it and in many cases tired it out completely. The powerful blue lightning slammed into both Quilava and Croconaw, pushing them gradually backward and forcing them down. "Altaria will you just do as I ask?" Dawn asked, rather irritated at the continued disobedience of her newest partner. The only answer she received was a deep yawn, and Altaria tucking its head under its wing. "Shinx let´s use Discharge once more," Ash roared, wanting to end the match before Shinx became overwhelmed. The move was risky, but as long as Altaria wasn´t responding to Dawn it was the only move he had to do.

The blue electrical storm descended once more on the twins´ Pokémon, though much less intense this time. "Croconaw use Ice Punch to defend and then fire a Water Pulse!" Xander exclaimed, a grin on his face as the battle raged. "Quilava help him out with Flamethrower!" Zane continued, wanting to end the battle. The attacks proved too much for Shinx in the end, and she ended up collapsing due to the damage received. Both Croconaw and Quilava seemed to have taken their own share of damage though, but Altaria still seemed entirely disinterested in the battle. In fact, Altaria fluffed her cloudlike wings and tucked her head in, going to sleep. The twins looked shocked but didn´t tease Dawn for it seeing that Dawn was already near tears. "Eh, shall we just call it our victory and end it there? No need to wake Altaria," Zane asked cautiously, hoping not to make matters worse. 

Ash nodded his head, "Yeah, that seems fair." Zane and Xander nodded before the two of them left the trio and went their own way. Dawn returned Altaria and turned to Ash. "Why wouldn´t Altaria battle now? He battled for me earlier today?" she asked, sniffling lightly. Ash rubbed his chin, feeling the slight stubble that had begun forming there again. "It might be because Altaria´s pride makes him reluctant to fight for entertainment. Earlier today he intervened in an actual deadly battle, but this time we weren´t in any danger," he hypothesized. Dawn nodded slowly, "So it is because Altaria simply doesn´t want to battle for entertainment? If there is any danger he will?" Brock nodded and cut in, "That does sound probable."

Ash smiled and looked into the Eterna Forest, raring to continue on the journey. "He will come around Dawn, just give him time." Dawn smiled and nodded. "So, are we ready to go into the Eterna Forest?" Ash asked, grinning widely. The other two smiled at him and nodded their heads, Dawn walking over to him and putting her head on his shoulder. 

**A/N:**

 **Alright, so I finished this chapter. Took a bit of inspiration from the Platinum game here, and I probably will going forward.  
**

**Next chapter we will be going into the Eterna Forest, and be doing a few things there.**

 **And just in case someone wants to know: If I do let Dawn Mega Evolve any Pokémon, and that is a big** _ **IF**_ **, it will** _ **NOT**_ **be Altaria. I do not like Altaria´s Mega form one tiny bit and will be doing my hardest to forget it exists. Sorry to those of you who like Altaria´s Mega, our opinion differs drastically.**

 **That is all I have to say, for now, so till next time!  
**


	20. Forest Reveal thy Secrets!

**A/N:**

 **Alrighty, this chapter will focus on the events happening in the Eterna Forest.**

 **I actually have two different events I want to implement before I´m finishing up the Eterna Forest part of the story. I´m unsure whether that would be all in this chapter or two different chapters.**

 **Oh, and another thing, I aim to have as many Pokémon in a location as possible. So, I might make some changes from that too. For example in the gen 4 games (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum) there exist a Dual-Slot option for the older Nintendo, which makes Pokémon from Fire Red/Leaf Green and Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald possible to catch in the games. I have taken a bit of inspiration from that, and those Pokémon are available in the forest in my fiction.  
**

**I haven´t any more to say than that at this time, except** **I do not own Pokémon and do not make any money on this.**

 **So onward to the chapter!**

 **Forest Reveal thy Secrets!**

The trio calmly made their way into the Eterna Forest, happy to have made it and knowing that just on the other side of the forest was Eterna City and its Gym. However, none of the trio were stressing too much about that as the sights of the immensely beautiful forest captivated them as they walked. This nearly made them unaware of the fact that they walked nearly directly into a green-haired young woman, only to stop just before doing so because Brock noticed her. 

"Hello, are you lost?" he asked her, making the distracted green-haired woman turn to face them. She blinked a bit, but then smiled and answered Brock´s question, "No, I´m searching for something. So, I understand that I might look a bit lost because I have exhausted all of my clues." Ash rose an eyebrow and wondered a bit what the woman was looking for in the dense Eterna Forest. The trees around them reached far into the sky, the trunks around them, the visible parts of them at least, were nearly as large as Ash.

An eerie chilled wind blew softly through the forest, carrying the scents of numerous flowers and plants. One overwhelming scent that assaulted the groups´ noses was the scent of honey, a really sweet scent that somehow seemed more enchanting than normal honey. "You smell that? The honey scent?" the woman asked, smiling back at the trio, all of them having raised their heads to better smell the honey scent. The trio nodded, though now they were all intrigued. The woman continued then, "I´m searching for the Enchanted Honey, said to be made by powerful Vespiquen when they lead a sufficient Combee colony. That is what I´m searching for, but I need something else before I have any hope of finding it."

Ash nodded slowly, having been able to follow the story so far. "I have to ask. Why are you searching for the Enchanted Honey?" The woman smiled warmly at him, "My grandfather started a collection of natural treasures, and one of the last parts that collection needs to be complete is the Enchanted Honey." Ash nodded, smiling slightly at the thought of being close to his own grandparents in a similar manner. "What is it you´re looking for that you need to find this Enchanted Honey?" Brock asked, kind of curious what one might need to find something that had such a powerful aroma. "Well, I need a Mothim, to locate the Combee colony. That aroma is so powerful that it has seeped into everything in the forest, that scent is just as powerful in every corner of the forest," she explained, unknowingly answering Brock´s question. "A Mothim would be able to differentiate where the smell comes from, in a way us humans and most other Pokémon can´t," she finished.

"So how do you find a Mothim?" Dawn asked, cocking her head to the side. "The easiest way is capturing a male Burmy and evolving it, which I have tried to do," the woman explained, releasing three Pokémon. The three Pokémon that appeared were very similar, the heads where exactly the same yet their bodies were not. One of the three was pink and covered in a thin steely rubbish material, while another was covered by rocks and sand, and the last of the three, in contrast, was covered by leaves and shrubs. "These are Wormadams, the evolved form of female Burmy. They take on their types by which location they evolve in, and what materials are on hand to become part of their shrouds. This one evolved while I was stopping in Veilstone," she said pointing at the pink Wormadam, "while this one evolved in a cave while I was heading here," this time she pointed to the sandy yellow one, "and this one evolved in this very forest. I love all of them, but unfortunately, they can´t help me find the Enchanted Honey. So, I need a male Burmy to evolve into Mothim." 

The three Wormadam nodded, not insulted in the least. "Maybe we can help you?" Dawn asked, curious to see what this was about. "Really? You´d really help me, after just having met me?" Ash shrugged, "Why not. I´d really like to see how this turns out. I´m Ash, by the way, this is my friend, Brock, and my girlfriend, Dawn." After he had introduced the three of them a shocked look passed over the young woman´s face, "Oh dear. I forgot all about introducing myself, didn´t I? Well, my name is Cheryl."

The four of them spent about two hours talking as they searched a large part of the forest for a Burmy, but found not a trace of one. "How about taking a break and eating lunch?" Brock finally asked, concluding that continuing on empty stomachs wouldn´t benefit any of them at all. Ash and Dawn immediately agreed though Cheryl seemed hesitant. In the end, she agreed, figuring it would be better to take a break and start fresh again. "So how long have you been searching for the Enchanted Honey?" Ash asked as the four of them was sitting around a table in the middle of a clearing. "About four months now, I first checked if there was a possibility that the new Combee colony in the Ilex Forest was capable of producing it. It wasn´t and I headed here," Cheryl answered, a somber smile on her face as she spoke. "There´s a Combee colony in the Ilex Forest? I can´t remember seeing any Combee when we traveled through there?" Ash pointed out, gazing quizzingly over at Brock.

"Oh, you´ve traveled through Johto, Ash?" Cheryl asked, seeming genuinely curious. "Yeah, my second regional league and third competition," Ash answered, a wide smile as he reminisced about the journey. "But I still can´t say I remember Combee in the Ilex Forest?" he continued, looking at Cheryl with questioning eyes. "Oh, that colony is very new. Only about a year old or so, from what I hear. Bernard Tsukushi introduced them when he received some Combee as a gift," Cheryl explained, smiling. "You mean 'Bugsy', the Gym Leader of Azalea Town?" Brock asked curiously, not used to hearing anyone refer to the Bug-type enthusiast by his actual name. Cheryl laughed thrillingly and nodded, taking a careful sip of her teacup. 

"So, this is the only forest where you can find a Combee colony capable of producing the Enchanted Honey?" Dawn asked, her head cocked cutely to the side. Cheryl nodded her head eagerly, "Yes, as far as anyone knows this is the only forest that houses a Combee colony of the size and strength needed for the production of Enchanted Honey." The trio nodded amicably, understanding her eagerness to find this treasure. Then Cheryl sighed deeply, "But to even have a chance I need a Mothim, and to get that I need to find a male Burmy." Before anyone could offer support whatsoever, a single green blur fell down into Dawn´s hand, knocking her glass out of her hand.

"Uh, what was that?" Dawn asked, highly confused. Ash, Brock, and Cheryl blinked rapidly, staring unbelievingly on the small creature that had just fallen out of the trees. "That… was a Burmy," Ash deadpanned, he turned halfway to stare at Cheryl, "You going to catch it?" That made Cheryl snap out of her stupor, and draw a Pokéball from her waist. "I am, let´s go Chansey!" The pink Egg Pokémon appeared in a white burst, clearly ready to fight. Cheryl nodded, a determined expression on her face.

"Chansey use Egg Bomb!" Cheryl commanded; a command that was promptly followed. The attack connected on a greenish dome, signifying that Burmy had used Protect. A few orbs then surrounded Burmy glowing bright red, before those orbs charged toward Chansey. "Dodge that and use Thunderpunch!" Cheryl ordered, not taking any chances. The pink Pokémon bounced out of the way and hit the Burmy with a fist crackling with electricity. The Bug-type was sent into a tree, hitting it hard enough that its leaves fell to the ground. Hysterical upon losing its shelter, the Burmy immediately forgot about the battle and hurriedly gathered up the leaves again. "Chansey use Egg Bomb once again!" 

The exploding egg hit Burmy again sending it into a tree, though this time the leaves stay put. Burmy glared back at Chansey and again charged up the Hidden Power, firing the brilliant red orbs swiftly. What surprised the others was that Burmy then followed the orbs, a soft pear green glow shining from its mouth. Even Chansey was surprised, to the extent that it didn´t manage to dodge the Hidden Power. The orbs slammed into Chansey, pushing it backward and offsetting its balance. While Chansey was stumbling, Burmy hit it with the Bug Bite attack further destabilizing Chansey.

"Chansey!" Cheryl shrieked, not fully believing the Burmy had actually managed to land two so powerful hits. Shaking her head, she again focused on the match. A few scorched areas of the meadow had become apparent due to the Egg Bombs, and the wind shrieked as it tore through the forest. The sun shone brightly to be sure, but the biting chill of the wind dampened the heat is would otherwise give off. "Chansey use Double Edge, and follow it up with Sing!" Cheryl commanded, figuring the damage coupled with Burmy being asleep would be enough to capture it.

Chansey sprang forward, slamming harshly into Burmy and sending it backward. The flowing notes that always accompanied a controlled Sing, encircled Burmy which promptly fell asleep. "Alright. Let´s go Pokéball," Cheryl cheered, sending her Pokéball flying at Burmy. Drawing the sleeping Bug-type into itself with a red flash of light, before rocking slightly from side to side. It took a few moments, but the Pokéball finally gave out the click of a successful capture. "Alright! Now we just need to check that it was indeed a male," Cheryl spoke enthusiastically. Now that the battle had ended the wind seemed to calm a little, but the breeze still chilled the group slightly.

"Do you know how to check, or do you want me to scan it with my Pokédex?" Ash asked as he stepped closer, his jacket no longer on his shoulders as he had given it to Dawn. The wind ruffled his singlet and hair, and the chilled air saw the small hairs on his arms rise as goosebumps. "Could you scan it? It´s probably way easier than any method I know," Cheryl asked kindly, smiling at Ash. "Alright, just call it out," Ash asked, fishing his Pokédex out of his pocket. The Burmy appeared in a flash of white light, a tiny pop signaling its awakening from slumber. Ash quickly scanned the curiously calm Pokémon, the Burmy simply sitting on the ground looking from side to side.

The raspy metallic voice of Ash´s Pokédex spoke up shortly after the scan had finalized, "Burmy the Bagworm Pokémon. It creates a cloak of various materials to protect itself from the cold winds, mostly the cloaks are made of twigs and leaves. When the cloak is broken this Pokémon quickly creates a new one of nearby materials, and somehow manages to create a cloak even when no materials are nearby. It is a Bug- and Grass-type. Burmy evolves differently depending on its gender, as a male evolves into Mothim and a female evolves into a Wormadam. This Burmy is male and knows the moves Bug Bite, Protect, Hidden Power and Tackle."

"Yes!" Cheryl cheered, picking up Burmy and spinning around happily upon learning she had finally got her hand on a male Burmy. "I´m searching for the Enchanted Honey, do you want to help me, my little one?" Cheryl asked the Burmy, locking their gazes. Burmy cocked its head, seemingly thinking it over for a few moments before it nodded eagerly. "Alright, now we just have to get you to evolve into Mothim, are you alright with that?" she asked, hoping to clarify with her newest partner. Burmy nodded affirmatively, gazing over to Ash and seemingly challenging him to battle. 

Ash blinked, but figuring that Burmy knew what it was doing, as it had definitely seemed to know how to battle well enough, he nodded and pulled a Pokéball from his belt. "Turtwig let´s go!" he called, releasing his youngest and least experienced Grass-type. "You ready, Burmy?" "Bu-Burmy!" the little Bug-type yelled clearly itching for a fight, which was very unusual for any Bug-type. "Turtwig start off with Bite!" Ash ordered, grinning from ear to ear. The Tiny Leaf Pokémon darted forward, grabbing hold of Burmy by clamping its jaw over it and tossing it toward the middle of the clearing. "Now use Razor Leaf!" "Counter that with Hidden Power and follow up with Bug Bite!" Cheryl ordered, dropping out of her stupor and committing to the battle.

The red orbs crashed with the sharp leaves creating a multitude of smaller explosions in the air, filling it with smoke. The smoke parted slightly when Burmy darted through it and slammed its Bug Bite into Turtwig, dealing some serious damage with the super-effective attack. "Turtwig recover your balance and use Razor Leaf into a Tackle!" Ash called, knowing the recovery was key. Turtwig landed on its legs and immediately sent a shower of leaves toward Burmy. Hiding in between the leaves Turtwig approached undetected and shot toward Burmy in a powerful Tackle. "Burmy use Protect and then fire Hidden Power!" Cheryl commanded, a determined expression on her face.

Turtwig crashed into the Protect, the defensive dome holding back his attack without issue. "Dodge that and use Mega Drain!" The many red orbs crashed into the ground around Turtwig, who was dodging left and right with immense speed. The tendrils of Turtwig´s Mega Drain immobilized Burmy, holding him still while the attack zapped his energy. "Use Bug Bite to free yourself and then use Hidden Power!"

The tendrils of Mega Drain burst immediately upon contact with the powerful Bug-type attack, while the glowing orbs of Hidden Power flew toward Turtwig once more. Ash seemed to grow slightly irritated at the constant countering and repeated attacks, and so uttered quietly, "Enough already. Turtwig use Razor Leaf and continue until every orb is destroyed. Then transition into a combined Mega Drain and Bite." Turtwig nodded seriously, having trained vigorously with Ivysaur to be able to perform attacks in combination with each other. The Razor Leaf attack matched the Hidden Power, obscuring the clearing in the smoke of an explosion between the attacks.

When the smoke clears Turtwig is nowhere to be seen, confusing Burmy and Cheryl greatly as Ash hadn´t ordered anything of the sort. Suddenly Turtwig jumps out of the canopy, biting down hard on Burmy and releasing the tendrils of Mega Drain allowing both attacks to drain Burmy down. "Burmy!" Cheryl screamed, not knowing what she could do to help her Pokémon out of the situation it found itself in. To her great relief and joy, that situation resolved itself as Burmy started glowing with a bright white light. -Figured it wasn´t far from evolving with how powerful it was, Ash thought to himself with a smirk playing at his lips.

The overwhelming energy released upon evolution sent Turtwig flying away, though he landed on his feet and didn´t take any noteworthy damage. When the bright light receded, a flying Bug-type with bright daffodil yellow wings were floating in the air just above where Burmy had been shortly before. The ends of his two larger top wings were tri-pronged and colored a vivid orange, differentiating them from the smaller lower wings which, while colored the same, had only two prongs. On his head, Mothim now had two antennae which were orange at the ends but the rest was same shady of salt white as the four limbs functioning as arms and legs. His eyes glowed intensely in the color of fire, glaring at Turtwig in a challenge. 

"Yes! Good work Mothim!" Cheryl cheered, hugging her newly evolved Pokémon tightly. Mothim seemed to temporarily forget the match in favor of basking in his trainer´s pride but soon focused on the battle again. Cheryl, noticing the challenging glare on Mothim´s face, deduced what he wanted quite easily, "You want to finish the battle with Turtwig?" Mothim nodded seriously and positioned himself back on the battlefield, directly opposite Turtwig who had a similar challenging grin on his face. 

Before the battle could begin a horde of Bug-type Pokémon seemed to flow past them, almost dragging the trainers with them in the confusing rush. "What the…?" Ash exclaimed, entirely unprepared for it. "Another failure, I do not understand how that Vespiquen not only control Combee but such an army of Beedrill as well," a voice seemed to exasperatedly complain to itself. "Oh, what have we here? A group of teens in the middle of Eterna Forest?" the older man still seemingly spoke to himself, even though he had just noticed the group.

Over his left shoulder floated a Mothim, and behind him on his right stood a calm and collected Scyther. -Judging by the comments he made he´s also searching for the Enchanted Honey. But where exactly have I seen him before? Ash thought, knowing he recognized the older man from somewhere but unable to place it.

"My apologies, my young friends. In my attempts at studying the Vespiquen Queen it seems we might have spooked some of the Bug-types in the forest," the older man stated a small somber smile on his face. The man was old, probably around 60, with thinning grey hair and a massively untamed beard of the same color. He wore glasses, of which one lens had been cracked and the rims twisted curiously. He wore a long scientist´s coat, though it was dirty and had holes in more than one place. Though he smiled at them, his cyan blue eyes held a bit of trepidation upon seeing them and his stance seemed a bit guarded. "No problem," Cheryl answered, not having seen the subtle hints. "Are you also searching for the Enchanted Honey?" she continued to ask, gazing at him. 

The older man, who seemed to be searching for something in the pockets of his lab coat, looked up at her and blinked confusedly a few times. "The Enchanted Honey?" He laughed a bit, a curiously warm laugh despite the raspy tint to his voice, "Oh no, my dear. I´m a researcher, I wish to study the Queen and nothing more." Then he seemed to realize something, "Oh dear me. Where are my manners? My name is Moss, Professor Moss Monvich to be precise. I specialize in Bug-type Pokémon and everything about them."

That´s when it clicked for Ash who the man was, "You´re the 'Creep'?!" The 'Creep', also known as the 'Green Spider', happened to be one of the men on the Sinnoh´s Most Wanted list. Not primarily for poaching or Pokémon Hunting, but for a vast amount of thefts. Moss blinked again, "The 'Creep'? I can´t say that is something I´ve heard used in reference to myself before, but then again I have been called much worse." Then taking a second to analyze Ash´s facial expression, he seemed to realize something was wrong. "Are you quite alright, young man?" he asked, a tad bit afraid that something was truly wrong. 

Dawn and Brock too seemed perturbed, but the two of them trusted fully in their companion. Cheryl simply seemed to be massively confused, not understanding why a guy as nice as Ash would all of a sudden call someone by such a degrading nickname. "The 'Creep' is one of the most wanted thieves and Pokémon Hunters in Sinnoh, your mark is associated heavily with him," Ash explained, calming slightly as it seemed Moss had no idea what he was talking about. "My mark? You mean the Green Durant I use as my signature? Now, why would that be associated with a Hunter of all things?" Moss wondered aloud, clearly puzzled. 

Ash found the information on his X-Transceiver and cautiously showed the aging Professor the screen, a mark clearly reminiscent of a green spider shown. Moss took a few moments to view the screen, "That´s not my mark." The single, simple comment knocked Ash for a loop. "What do you mean?!" he asked disbelievingly, taken completely by surprise again. "That young man is a symbol known as the Green Ariados, which is similar to my own but not the same," Moss explained. "Here, this is my mark," he continued, finding one of his notebooks and showing Ash the small green spider symbol emblazoned on the front. Sure enough, the mark was similar yet not the same. For one Moss´ symbol had six legs, while the mark the hunter used had four legs and two spikes on the back. "I don´t believe it," Ash breathed out aggravated, "You´ve been marked as a Pokémon Hunter, and a thief, for the past seven months because a Pokémon Hunter has used a similar mark?" 

"I´ve been labeled a Pokémon Hunter and thief? But I´ve been busy studying this Combee colony and its Vespiquen Queen for most of the past year?" Moss commented, utterly confused. Ash took a deep breath to calm himself, "Someone mistook the mark of this Hunter for your mark, and no one bothered to doublecheck." Moss shook his head, "Well that is unfortunate. I will have to correct this when my research into the colony has concluded." 

Ash had already started dialing a number when he decided against it. -I don´t need to directly call Lance for everything. I can send in a report under my authority as a G-Men operative, Ash thought. Quickly writing the report and sending it in using his codename and the proper channels, Ash decided that would be enough. What use was having G-Men authority if his reports would be dismissed out of hand? "I heard something about Beedrill and Vespiquen?" Ash asked, figuring knowing the truth of that matter might be in their best interest.

Professor Monvich nodded animatedly, "Why yes! The Vespiquen Queen seems to have somehow gained the loyalty of a vast amount of the Beedrill of the forest." He stopped for a moment, dragging his fingers through his beard catching on a few of the knots. "Though how I can´t say for sure." Cheryl cut in, "Does that mean you know where their nest is?" Professor Monvich looked at her with a kind smile on his face, "You mean what is ostensibly known as the Honey Palace? Yes, I do know where it is. But trying to take even a tiny bit of that honey is likely to bring the entire force of the colony against us." 

Cheryl deflated at that, but no one had any time for more questions as Dawn suddenly shouted out, "Is that smoke I see over the trees?!" Professor Monvich snapped around, his face now a mask of terror. "That is the direction of the Hive!" Before any of the others could even think of stopping him, the Professor had started sprinting toward the smoke followed by his Mothim and Scyther. Sharing quick looks between themselves the group of four followed the oddly fast older man, prepared to fight once they got to the source of the smoke. 

The view before them had their jaws dropping, as a literal castle of honey had been built into a massive tree. The view would probably have been grander had it not been for the smoke billowing up from around the clearing, as several Beedrill and Combee struggled to fend off a large group of humans clad in clothing obviously meant to ward off Bug-types. Well all of them except one, as at the very front a man with purplish hair gave orders. What caught Ash´s eye most of all was the massive symbol of a Green Ariados that had been placed at the center of his cloak´s back, easily marking him as the actual Pokémon Hunter known as the 'Creep'. 

At the 'Creep´s' legs an Ariados was fighting against one of the few smaller Vespiquen that had come out of the Palace not long before, a Venomoth fighting off three Beedrills right above his head. "Push forward! I will have a bidding war for the Enchanted Honey, and the Vespiquen!" the 'Creep' laughed loudly, his Pokémon pushing their opponents back little by little. A few veins were nearly popping on the Professor´s forehead, his anger was easy to see. "Mothim and Scyther! Help the colony push the hunters back!" he roared, while he was stalking towards the 'Creep'.

Ash, Dawn, Brock, and Cheryl were all caught up by the tide of battle, ending up facing against the various assortment of hunters the 'Creep' had brought. Ash managed to catch a glimpse toward the middle of the battle, where Professor Monvich was facing off against the 'Creep'. The two were both using three Pokémon at the same time, the 'Creep´s' Venomoth against Monvich´s Beedrill, the 'Creep' also using a Pinsir and an Ariados against two of Monvich´s Pokémon that Ash didn´t recognize the species of. 

A massive man stalked toward Ash, releasing two Pokémon as he did. A Slugma and Shiftry, so Ash swiftly released his Wartortle and Staravia. "We weren´t expecting any interference, kid. Now we have to take you out, nothing personal just business," the giant of a man spoke with calm certainty. Ash took a moment to cast his gaze around, to see how the rest of his friends were holding up. Dawn had released her Altaria, who was furiously battling against a Fearow. Brock had his Graveler and his Crobat fighting against a pair of underlings both using Mightyenas, while Cheryl had her Mothim battling against a mainland form Raticate. 

Hoping all his friends would be capable of getting out of this without getting injured, Ash refocused upon his own battle. "Wartortle use Rain Dance and continue with Water Pulse! Staravia use Gust!" he commanded swiftly, not allowing the hunter any chance to catch up. The rain started falling immediately, drenching the forest and slowly putting out the myriad of small fires the hunters had started up. The Water Pulse though met with one of Shiftry´s fan blades, though Staravia´s gust sent Shiftry into the ground shortly after.

"Staravia use Aerial Ace! Wartortle provide cover fire with Hydro Pump!" Ash ordered, battling more fiercely than usual. Staravia flew forward, the rippling of Flying-type energy splitting the air in front of him, with a massive Hydro Pump soaring just slightly beneath him. The Aerial Ace slammed into Shiftry, sending it out of the way and allowing the Hydro Pump to soak the Slugma in a massive spray. The hunter growled audibly before an insufferable smirk made its way onto his face. This battle was only just beginning… 

**A/N:**

 **Yep, I´m stopping it there. I decided that I´d like the events in Eterna Forest to happen over two different chapters. The rest of this comes in the next chapter, so how do you like it so far?**

 **I wanted to create a sort of battle between the wild Pokémon and the Hunters, to show that many Pokémon could truly look out for themselves. The Vespiquen Queen is not currently in the battle, though there are a few Vespiquen fighting. The Queen´s ladies-in-waiting you could say. My original idea was actually to make Professor Monvich the 'Creep', but this storyline kind of settled as I was writing and I must say I like this better.**

 **So the next chapter is the rest of the battle, and most likely the other event I also wanted to get done in Eterna Forest which may or may not have anything to do with the Honey Palace.  
**

**So till then!**


	21. A Showdown between Demi-Deities!

**A/N:**

 **So I´m continuing from the last chapter, hoping to get done with the Eterna Forest in this chapter or at the latest the next one. That also means that it is a bit of time until the Eterna Gym battle, as there are some things happening between the Eterna Forest and the Eterna Gym.**

 **Now then I don´t think I have anything more to say. So onward to the chapter!**

 **A Showdown between Demi-Deities!  
**

The battle kept raging around them, the smell of smoke permeating around Pokémon nest. Parts of the Honey Palace had started dripping from the heat, and some of it had started ripping from the wind that had picked up as a result of the battle. Rain fell heavily from the sky, slowly dousing the few remaining fires that yet burned. Ash cast a quick glance around, Dawn and Cheryl had both finished their battles to a satisfactory result. Brock still battled hard, though he had moved on from his first two opponents. As for Ash himself, the big man had proven to be a good opponent but had eventually gone down when his Shiftry had been double-teamed by Wartortle and Staravia. 

The only one who was still battling the same opponent and had made little headway was Professor Monvich, though not because he lacked any power. To be fair he, like a lot of the other Professors, was actually quite proficient in battle, and his Pokémon were fairly powerful. The simple fact was that the 'Creep' matched him evenly and neither seemed to be able to get the upper hand. The 'Creep' had recalled his Venomoth and Pinsir, both of which had been knocked out, and Professor Monvich had recalled his Beedrill and one of the two Pokémon Ash hadn´t recognized. The Pokémon Professor Monvich now had on the field, battling the 'Creep´s' Ariados, seemed to be an ant with a steel shell. Ash absentmindedly recognized that it was a Durant, which seemed oddly fitting as they were both using their symbol Pokémon. 

The defeated hunters and even a few of the hunters that had yet to be defeated started making hasty retreats, avoiding the many Bug-type Pokémon that called the Palace their home. Ash didn´t pay much attention to the hunters, or to the 'Creep' and the Professor. His attention had been firmly captured by the many Combee and Beedrill that had started rebuilding the Honey Palace by using String Shot to make the honey stick properly and somehow hardening the mixture to become like wax. A few Vespiquen were overseeing the building, but Ash could see none of them were truly in charge.

It took another ten minutes before the last of the accomplices had been routed, though the 'Creep' didn´t seem to care overly much. "Ariados use Electroweb and continue into a Sludge Bomb!" he ordered, ignoring everything but his opponent. "Durant dodge that Electroweb, and counter Sludge Bomb with Flash Cannon!" Professor Monvich yelled, a rather uncharacteristic angry snarl on his face. The two major attacks clashed together and exploded, bathing the battlefield in particles of slightly melted steel and poisonous mists.

"Durant use X-Scissor!" "Counter with Cross Poison!" The two battling trainers kept their offensives up, never noticing the giant Vespiquen that had emerged from the very top of the Honey Palace. The attacks again exploded against each other as the titanic Bug-type gazed down upon them, seemingly in thought. For the first time, the 'Creep' spoke directly to Professor Monvich, "Give up, you old has-been! I will have the Enchanted Honey and those Vespiquen. Do you have any idea what I can get for selling them? I would be rich!" The Professor snarled back, "I will never allow neither the Vespiquen nor their Honey to fall into your hands!"

As both the trainers were about to order another attack from their Pokémon, several white glowing spheres impacted Ariados. The Long Leg Pokémon had nothing left to defend itself with and was promptly knocked out by the super-effective Power Gem attack. "What?!" the 'Creep' exclaimed, looking up angrily only to gape at the utterly massive Vespiquen Queen. Taking a deep gulp, he returned Ariados, and fled as fast as he could, disappearing into the forest. Professor Monvich gazed up at the Vespiquen in shocked wonder, nearly in tears at what he counted the single most wondrous sight he had ever seen. 

The Queen landed in front of him, looked him over a few times and then seemed to buzz happily. "You… You will allow me to study the colony?" Professor Monvich gasped the tears that had been gathered slowly making their way down his cheeks. A gentle buzz and an affirmative nod of the head later, the Queen turned to the other four humans she knew had come to their aid. She bowed slightly to them in gratitude, a cacophony of happy buzzing coming from all sides as the other Bug-types joined their Queen in thanking the group. The Queen seemed to ponder a little before she seemed to make a decision. She pointed first to Cheryl, buzzing in short bursts. "You want to reward us?" Cheryl asked puzzled, but also excited. As the Queen nodded Cheryl smiled widely, and brought a small, very ornately decorated honey jar made of glass from her backpack. At two of the sides were decoratively bronze wings, and the lid seemed to a replica of a Vespiquen´s gem. "Could I have just a little of your Enchanted Honey to add to my collection of natural treasures?" Cheryl asked, her smile a bit hesitant.

Vespiquen nodded slightly and brought out a hand calling for a few Combee to answer her. Two Combee swiftly came forward, took the jar between them and disappeared into the Honey Palace. They reappeared a few minutes later, the jar now filled with majestically glowing honey. Vespiquen then turned to Brock and stopped to wait for his request. Brock, however, had no clue what to ask for so he simply answered, "I don´t need anything, I was glad to be of aid. As a breeder and aspiring healer of Pokémon I find joy in simply being able to help." Vespiquen seemed to ponder the answer for a few moments before one of the Beedrill approached her. The Beedrill in question was somewhat larger than a normal Beedrill and had a few scars across its body, the most noteworthy being a long thin red line across one of its stingers. 

It seemed to say something to its Queen, seemingly to her satisfaction for she buzzed happily and the Beedrill left swiftly. The Queen further turned to Dawn, stopped up for a moment and then called for two of the smaller Vespiquen. Buzzing animatedly together they seemed to come to an agreement, and the two Vespiquen left. The two Vespiquen and the Beedrill returned shortly after, the two Vespiquen carefully carrying a shimmering piece of fabric between them and the Beedrill an egg. The Vespiquen proceeded to carefully drape the scarf, for that was what the shimmering fabric had been revealed to be, around Dawn´s neck. "That is Vespiquen silk," Professor Monvich whispered in awe. "Vespiquen silk?" Dawn asked curiously, not having heard the name before.

Cheryl was the one who answered, "It´s one of the worlds most expensive fabrics due to how refined the Vespiquen´s power has to be to make it. It is a grand gift to receive." Dawn smiled widely and curtseyed to the Queen, who nodded slightly back. The Beedrill approached Brock and handed him the egg, which Professor Monvich quickly deduced was not a Bug-type egg. "I can tell what any egg is as long as it is a Bug-type, yet I don´t recognize that egg," he said calmly, as he looked the egg over. Finally, the Vespiquen Queen hovered in front of Ash, seemingly unable to think of anything she could reward him with. A fairly small Vespiquen actually floated over to the Queen, and after a quick buzzing conversation that the humans understood little of, she approached Ash.

The young Vespiquen floated in the air in front of him, before she pointed at one of his empty Pokéballs and buzzed. Ash´s eyebrows shot up and he asked breathlessly, "You want to come with me?" As the Vespiquen nodded, the Queen slowly started to drift to the top of the Honey Palace again. She waved her hand majestically and disappeared into her halls once again, leaving the group behind. Smiling at the enthusiastic Bug-type in front of him, Ash took an empty Pokéball from his belt and lightly tapped it against her.

"Well, that could have gone better," Ash started, "but it could also have gone much worse." Cheryl nodded absentmindedly, transfixed by the glimmering Enchanted Honey. "I think it´s time we continue on our way out of this forest, don´t you?" he asked, turning to Dawn and Brock. The two of them nodded happily, "How about the two of you, Cheryl, Professor Monvich?" Brock asked politely. "Well, the Queen herself gave me permission to study the Honey Palace and its colony so I will certainly be staying for a while," the Professor answered, a massive grin on his face. Cheryl smiled at them before she too answered, "I will be heading back home to add this to my family´s collection, and then I don´t quite know."

"Well, we wish you both the best of luck," Dawn spoke, her cheery voice bringing smiles to all their faces. "Oh, and I´ll clear it up with the G-Men and the Leagues for you, Professor," Ash spoke directly, alluding to the situation with the 'Creep'. He had managed to get a photo of the man and had actually already sent in another report with the photo attached. The group waved happily to each other as they parted ways, Ash and his friends heading toward Eterna, Cheryl toward Floaroma and Professor Monvich staying right where he was.

The Honey Palace had been fairly out of the way for Ash, Dawn, and Brock, and it quickly approached the third hour searching before they found the path out of the Eterna Forest again. The wind, even the slight breeze that had been present before any of the battling done that day, had stilled completely and the few rays of sunshine that trickled in through the few gaps in the branches above them warmed the forest to a pleasant temperature. Every now and then Ash would hear a bird chirp or the small noises of Bug-types crawling along the forest ground and in the trees. A feeling of calm and serenity had come over the three of them, no feeling of rush at all existed within them.

Of course, this being Ash, and his friends, tranquility would not last for long, as the trio were very nearly landed on by a familiar equine Pokémon. "Mudsdale! Are you alright?!" a familiar voice asked, a tone of slight panic lacing it. "Cera!" Dawn exclaimed, ecstatic upon seeing her friend again. "Hm?" Cera made an uncommitted noise of uncertainty, before lighting up at seeing Dawn´s face. "Dawn! You guys are in Eterna? It´s so good to see you," she gushed, a huge smile on her face as she continued to stroke Mudsdale´s neck in a soothing manner.

"Yeah, we went through Floaroma, and I won my first Ribbon!" Dawn answered her, a bit of pride shining through at being able to tell her friend that she had won a contest.

"That´s brilliant! I´m so happy for you!" Cera responded, a huge smile on her lips. By now Mudsdale had fully calmed down and was patiently waiting for his next command. Ash was smiling at his girlfriend and her good friend, knowing that was one of the few things Dawn missed. The forest had opened up a bit, allowing more sunlight to filter down through the leaves. The wind had picked up a bit, and a cool breeze floated calmly between the forest. The smell of smoke that had been prevalent earlier had all but disappeared, replaced by the sweet aroma of an amalgamation of different forest flowers. A few Bug- and Grass-types played in plain sight, both on the ground and in the tree branches.

Ash began wondering what had drawn Cera to the Eterna Forest, as he remembered well what her passion was. "What legend is it that brought you to the Eterna Forest?" he asked, figuring that he could find out instead of wondering. Cera and Dawn stopped talking for a bit, so Cera could answer him. "The Eterna Trifecta, a legend about the three tribes of the Eterna Forest. Each of the three worshipped a different god, and the three factions were always at war with each other for control of the forest. Now each tribe has either died out or gone into hiding, but there are rumors that the giant Pokémon they worshipped can still be found in this very forest. I want to be able to capture a picture of them, so I have some tangible proof toward the legend´s credibility," she explained, a grin on her face as she showed off a rather spectacularly professional camera.

Ash´s eyebrows rose, "You mean that there are three Pokémon in the Eterna Forest with the Monarch Mutation?" The 'Monarch Mutation' was one of the most mysterious phenomena in the world, with no true explanation and too few real theories. There were a few researchers that devoted their time to the study, but none had gotten very far. There were only two things truly known about the mutation, the mutated Pokémon grew exceptionally large and powerful and the Pokémon had a ruler´s disposition. Ash had grown curious about the Ariados Queen he had met during the foray he had undertaken with his father, Lance, and Brandon into the Ghost Cave of Mt. Silver. For weeks afterward, after the physical training of the day was done, he had read up on the explanations, and the only one that seemed to fit was the study of 'Monarch Mutations'. So naturally, Ash had read up on all the available information he could find and knew more than the average trainer about the phenomena. 

"Don´t fully know what the 'Monarch Mutation' is, but the legend states that there are three larger than normal Pokémon with immense power that lives here. So, if that points to this 'Monarch Mutation' thing, then yeah," Cera answered to the best of her ability, not having enough information about the subject to contribute anything steadfast. That sent Ash´s head for a whirl, a vortex of thoughts racing through his mind in a flash. He knew that the Vespiquen Queen was a 'Monarch', but he would never have guessed that there were two others living in this forest.

"What Pokémon were said to belong to this Trifecta?" Brock asked, curious but also a bit puzzled at the gobsmacked look on Ash´s face. Cera rummaged around in her bag for a few moments and pulled out a rather worn but definitely not old notebook. Flipping through its pages and scanning over them she finally stopped, holding a finger to a sentence in a book and obviously studying the written words there. "According to my uncle´s notes it´s supposed to be a Vespiquen living in a place referred to as the 'Glimmering Palace', a Tangrowth living in the 'Abyss of Vines', and a Slaking living in the 'Meadow atop the Forest'. That means the subjects are a Slaking, a Tangrowth and a Vespiquen," Cera answered after a few moments more. "I know the Pokémon but finding these locations in a forest like this might be difficult," she continued, oblivious to the facial expressions that had settled on Brock and Dawn. 

Ash pulled up his X-Transceiver and hurriedly flicked through a few of his pictures, one of the lesser-known functions of the device. "Here, this is the Vespiquen and the 'Glimmering Palace'," he finally stated, showing Cera the picture of a huge Vespiquen with a palace made of honey behind her, along with a literal army of Beedrill and Combee. 

Cera´s eyes widened and she reverently took in the picture, "That is amazing! When and where did you get this?" Ash shrugged and looked over to Brock and Dawn wondering if they should tell her, getting an immediate nod from Dawn and a little delayed one from Brock. "I snapped the photo myself earlier today. The Combee colony was attacked by Pokémon Hunters, so I advise leaving them be," he told Cera, aware that the Combee colony was probably rather skittish around new arrivals right now. Cera nodded thoughtfully, before she asked with just a slight tinge of hope in her voice, "Can you send me that picture? And maybe you´d like to see the Tangrowth and Slaking too?" Ash smiled widely, shaking his head amusedly. "You want some help finding them, is that it?" Brock asked, mirth in his voice as well. Cera nodded sheepishly but grinned when Ash and Brock both gave affirmative nods. 

"Sure, we can take another day off before we get back on track again," Ash stated, a grin plastered on his face. "Yes, though I think we need to get an idea about where to start the search," Brock continued, a thoughtful expression resting on his face. "Well, we do have some clue in those notes Cera has," Dawn stated, making the other three gaze at her. "What? The notes give names for what is possibly the homes of these so-called gods, doesn´t that give us a clue for where those homes are?" Dawn asked, a tad uncertain. She was relieved however when Ash smiled brightly at her, his face caught in one of the stray rays of sunshine. 

"You´re right, we do have some clues. Vespiquen´s 'Glimmering Palace' was obviously the hive made of honey glimmering in the sunlight, so if the other two are just as straightforward it´s easy," Ash answered looking over at Brock, who nodded his head in agreement. "Yeah, if it´s that straightforward Slaking lives on a plateau of some kind higher up in the treetops, though Tangrowth´s 'Abyss of Vines' makes less sense. Unless…" he started before trailing off, his mind racing through a few possibilities. "Unless what Brock?" Cera asked curiously, a bit anxious to get going in the search of these demi-deities.

"Well, Vespiquen´s hive is level with the ground in the forest, and Slaking obviously is supposed to live at an elevated level. What if this 'Abyss of Vines' is located in a chasm or cave, and thus Tangrowth´s realm is beneath ground level?" Brock laid out his theory, careful not to sound as if it wasn´t just a theory. Cera nodded her head slowly, seeing the sense in the theory. "So, we need to see if there is a chasm somewhere, and an elevated plateau of branches?" she asked, trying to fully understand their thesis. "That is the closest we have to a plan at the moment, so yeah," Brock answered, shrugging his shoulders somewhat.

"Alright," Cera said nodding her head, and starting to rummage through her bag again. After a few moments, and a few whispered swears coming from Cera, she pulled a rather old and worn map out of her bag. The map was encased in a thick glass casing, obviously to preserve it as well as possible. Pulling it out carefully, Cera laid it out over a nearby rock and started scanning it. "Alright so we´re about here," she pointed at a specific location on the map. Looking it over and analyzing the few points of interest the old map had, and comparing them to landmarks around them Brock found that Cera seemed to have found the exact spot they were currently standing on. "That means there is a chasm or ravine of some kind about three kilometers that way," she waved her hand toward the forest on their right, "and a close concentration of trees that could possibly support a plateau that way," this time the hand was waving just a little more right than previously.

"Which means that is the way to go, right?" Ash commented, standing up and stretching his legs somewhat. Cera and Brock, the only two who had a somewhat idea how to read a map, both nodded. "Yeah, we´re going in that approximate direction. And no, you are not taking the lead Ash, we don´t want to get lost," Brock told them easily, smiling at Ash who had started to pout just a little from the joke. "Like I´m the only one who managed to get us lost," Ash whispered out under his breath, though Brock still heard it. "You´re right, Misty did get us lost a bit as well. You managed to get us lost while we were still on the path though," he joked right back before both of the boys broke out in laughter. 

The four of them started to slowly make their trek toward the presumed location they needed to go, though the dense vegetation made it a difficult task. When they had moved a bit further, they came across a large meadow in the middle of the forest and yet there were a few things that made the meadow incredibly impressive. The first was that the meadow had not been a part of the map Cera had gotten from her uncle, the second was the provisory arena built from large rocks in the center of it and the third was the massive amount of Pokémon lounging about there. Curiously the Pokémon seemed to have split the meadow in two, and all of them were paying rapt attention to the arena. One side was full of Normal-types, as the group saw Buneary, Lopunny, Slakoth, Vigoroth, Bidoof, and Bibarel there. The other side was full of Grass-types, Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, Bellosom, Tangela, Seedot and Nuzleaf were the most prominent.

Both sides had one major eyecatcher though, and the sight of them made the group´s jaws drop. On the side of the Grass-types, a few Bellosom were attending a truly massive Tangrowth, who was simply laying back observing the battle in the arena and eating berries provided to him. While amidst the Normal-types sat a hulking Slaking easily as large as the Tangrowth, being tended by a couple of Lopunny. The two really embodied the visage of kings among their own kind, and even Ash and Brock could not say they had ever seen anything like it.

In the arena itself, the group could see a Vigoroth going up against a Nuzleaf in battle, obviously some sort of duel between the two kingdoms. The Nuzleaf was covered in scratches and old battle scars, even having lost a few pieces of its leaf. The Vigoroth was much the same a few old scars covering it, the most prominent of which was the scar that went over its left eye though it didn´t seem to have damage the eye itself. "What are they doing?" Dawn asked, a bit confused by what she was seeing. "I think calling these two 'Monarchs' is a better fit than most would think," Brock answered, an awestruck expression still on his face. A few noises carried over from the arena, though it wasn´t as loud as they thought it would be. The sun glinted in the open sky above the meadow, and the wind seemed to be stopped by a few rocks strategically placed to keep it out.

"What do you mean?" Dawn asked, none the wiser from Brock´s rather cryptic answer. Ash, having read up on human history as well as Pokémon, knew exactly what Brock meant, but still had a tough time believing it to be true. "In the old days two kingdoms could come together and settle disputes or simply interact through a duel between two warriors," Brock answered Dawn´s question after a short intermission, "I think that is what is happening here. Though by the relaxed nature of both sides, this is simply entertainment and fun, not a conflict of any kind."

Just as Brock finished his sentence, the Vigoroth in the arena sent the Nuzleaf into the ground. It was about to pounce on its downed foe when the Slaking rose from its seat and roared. The sudden roar of its chief stopped the Vigoroth cold, a few trembles visible in its raised arm. The Tangrowth on the other side slowly got up as well and allowed a few of its vines to fetch the Nuzleaf and give to his Bellosom attendants. The Bellosom immediately started to use a myriad of different healing techniques on the damaged Nuzleaf, while the Tangrowth slowly made its way to the middle of the arena. The Vigoroth strode over to a single Lopunny standing off to the side, passing by the Slaking who was making its way down to the arena to meet with the Tangrowth.

Suddenly the two titans blurred into action, a Mega Punch meeting a Power Whip eliciting a concussive force of wind from the point of impact. The two sides started cheering wildly as their chiefs started an epic duel in the middle of the arena, the Vigoroth and Nuzleaf match had obviously just been a warm-up match before the main event. The two 'Monarchs' clashed mightily against each other several times, each time sending a concussive blast of wind through the meadow. The group stared at the battle with wide eyes, fully realizing why the two Pokémon had been thought to be demi-gods. "Cera? If you want a picture of them, I can´t think of a better time," Ash whispered over to the history buff, who had been staring at the two absolutely transfixed.

Cera shook her head wildly, shaking off the hesitation and started snapping a few pictures. The camera made absolutely no sound, and the blitz had been turned off so the many pictures being taken didn´t alert the horde of Pokémon. The powerful duel kept on going, almost making the constant blasts of air painful as they kept slamming into the group. Both Tangrowth and Slaking seemed to have taken some damage, though neither seemed to deem them anything more than a nuisance. The cheering of the subjects had nearly been drowned out by the immense cacophony that accompanied the two titans´ brawl. It wasn´t until the dusk began to slowly creep in, and the sky began to darken into night, that the group finally realized just how much time had passed. The weather had gotten significantly chillier, almost freezing as the wind howled past them.

"We need to find a place to make camp," Ash whispered, careful not to draw the attention of any of the Pokémon in the clearing. When the others nodded and slowly started to filter out of the clearing and into the forest among the trees, Ash cast one last look at the behemoths brawling. Gazing at them for a mere moment longer, before he hurried after his friends. The blasts of air following the group even into the forest, and a bit further. It wasn´t until Ash fully passed by the giant rocks that he realized they weren´t meant to stop the wind from getting into the meadow, they were meant to keep the blasts of air away from the trees.

The group found a pretty good spot after about another twenty minutes' walk, where they sat up their tents. Cera had opted to stay with them for the night, though they would be splitting up come morning. -Let´s see what tomorrow brings, Ash thought to himself as he pondered about the events that had already gone by that day.

 **A/N:**

 **Yes, I did give Ash a Vespiquen. Why? Because I felt he needed another Bug-type, as he only has Heracross. And though I´ve never gotten to use a Vespiquen, I actually quite like their design.**

 **What I call the 'Monarch Mutation' is the reason why I can create such powerful Pokémon, basically, the Pokémon who has the mutation leads a tribe. They grow to be exceptionally large and immensely powerful, and as such were often thought of as demi-deities. That is what I use to explain that phenomena. Besides the ones introduced in this chapter we have already met the Ariados Queen of Mt. Silver, and it has been implied that a Houndoom King/Queen also lives at Mt. Silver. Pokémon can grow to be as powerful as a Monarch, it´s simply that a Monarch is genetically disposed to be larger and more naturally powerful.  
**

**I´d like to say that the phenomenon isn´t actually directly mine, I think I changed it a bit from where I read it but I actually got the idea from another fanfiction I read. I can´t remember which of them though. I´m curious to hear what you guys think about my original ideas, that being Cera and her quest for the legends of the world. Of course, I´d also like to know what you think about the 'Monarch Mutation' idea, so please don´t be shy and just tell me either in a PM or a review.**

 **I don´t think there is much more for me to say at the moment, so…**

 **Till next time!**


	22. A Riverside Rival!

**A/N:**

 **So, the last chapter was the last of the Eterna Forest, and this chapter is the last one planned before the group arrives at Eterna City and Ash´s next Gym Battle. Which is kind of insane considering how many words I´ve written, that Ash still only has one badge. Well, he´ll get his second soon and more than likely I will be doing some other stuff in Eterna, as well as the Gym Battle, so look forward to that.  
**

**Xion the XIV:** **Yeah, I did. I actually got the idea from the Totem Pokémon in Sun and Moon, combined with an idea I read in a fanfic. I don´t really know how good Vespiquen is, but as you stated anime logic. As to the Mega Evolution thing, they don´t. They simply don´t, they get one: Either Mega Evolution or 'Monarch Mutation', though the only one that could possibly have been both that have been in the story isn´t even confirmed.**

 **Pearlshipper (Guest):** **I am trying to brainstorm to get an idea for a second date, and have a tentative idea as of right now. I´m going to try, but we´ll see how it goes.**

 **As always,** **I do not own Pokémon nor do I make any profit from this.**

 **Now then I don´t think I have much else to say, so let´s get going!**

 **A Riverside Rival!**

It had been three days since Cera had once again parted ways with the group, no doubt off to search for another unconfirmed legend or historical object. It had taken the group another day and a half to actually get out of the Eterna Forest, as trekking through it had proven to be quite the physical trial. The group had now, at about midday, decided to take a much-needed break from the constant traveling and training to spend at least a few hours just relaxing and having fun. The place they chose was a rather lush meadow right next to a running river, allowing Ash and Dawn to bask in the sun and water alternatively. Yet still allowed the Pokémon to either join them and play in the water, or lay in the sun taking in the sunlight.

Brock´s Steelix was laying outstretched over the meadow, while the remaining Rock- and Ground-types rested while leaning against him. Ivysaur, Bayleef, and Turtwig were training at the grassy plain, being observed by Wartortle who was quietly conversing with the newest member of the crew, Vespiquen. Shinx and Pikachu were both playing with their trainers in the water, along with Piplup and Buneary. Pupitar had joined Brock´s Rock-types and was simply enjoying the sunlight. Pachirisu was laying down in Altaria´s fluffy wings, sleeping like a small child, along with Altaria himself. While Ash and Dawn were swimming and playing in the river, Brock was sitting on the shore leaning on Steelix´s head and gently polishing the egg given to him by the Vespiquen of the Eterna Forest. 

The sun was gleaming in the sky, warming everyone greatly. On top of that, there was absolutely no wind, so nothing at all chilled the group down on the hot day except the bathing they found so relaxing. All of a sudden, a spout of water rose from the middle of the river, a slight shape of a Pokémon shooting out of the top. Ash stared at the foot of the spout, looking a Gyarados dead in the eye. The angry gleam somewhat unnerved him, before the Gyarados simply dipped back beneath the surface of the water.

The shadowed Pokémon landed heavily on the bank of the river, not too far away from where Brock was sitting. Ash and Dawn, along with their Pokémon, got up from the water, wanting to check on the Pokémon. The two silently argued over who was going to catch the Pokémon, until Dawn pointedly won that argument by glaring harshly at her boyfriend. The wounded Pokémon slowly got up forcing its way onto its own two feet, though wobbly at best. "What Pokémon is this?" Ash mused lightly, looking for his Pokédex. When he finally found it and was ready to scan the Pokémon, he found himself the recipient of a rather harsh glare.

Deciding to scan it anyway, Ash pressed the button. "Buizel the Sea Weasel Pokémon. It swims by using its two tails to propel itself forward, also splicing seaweed as it goes. It can inflate its flotation sac to increase its buoyancy, so it can remain floating down the river with its head above water to look for food. Buizel is a Water-type," the mechanical voice of Ash´s Pokédex droned out in a monotone. "It sounds like it will be a real good member of my team!" Dawn exclaimed happily, waking both Altaria and Pachirisu. "Pachirisu be a dear and help me here, will you?"

The small Electric-type got up and sprinted over to her, almost dancing with glee at the thought of battling. The Buizel, even injured and fatigued as it was, readied itself for battle immediately. "Alright use Spark, Pachirisu!" Dawn ordered. The tiny electric Pokémon followed through immediately, only to be completely stumped when the Buizel struck back by using Sonicboom. Buizel then followed up with an impossibly strong Water Pulse, sending Pachirisu careening backward. Buizel then stood its ground and made the universal 'come at me' gesture toward the Electric-type, much to the shock of everyone else present. Even Wartortle, who had more than once done something similar as a Squirtle, stood there gaping at the new arrival.

"Pachirisu use Discharge!" The full power of the electric onslaught didn´t seem to faze the stubborn Water-type, who inflated the sac around it and sent a Sonic Boom onto the ground directly beneath itself. The combination caused Buizel to jump high into the air, bypassing the Discharge entirely. The Buizel then sent a powerful Water Pulse downward, missing Pachirisu due only to a second when he flinched from his injuries. The tidal wave that came from the point of impact still carried Pachirisu away, though it wasn´t injured at all. "Pachirisu use Sweet Kiss, and then follow up with Spark!"

Buizel didn´t manage to dodge the Sweet Kiss, ending up being too confused to dodge the following Spark. Buizel was tossed backward in the air, crashing into the ground. From the small electrical sparks that jumped out from Buizel´s skin every now and then, the group knew Buizel had been paralyzed, giving Dawn her best shot at capturing the Pokémon. "Alright Pokéball go!" Dawn yelled, spinning in a pirouette before letting the ball fly. Connecting solidly with the immobilized Buizel, the Pokéball effortlessly pulled the Pokémon in. The capturing in itself was a fair bit harder, the ball shaking violently as Buizel fought to get out. Eventually, the Pokéball won out, and the click of a successful capture rang out across the field. 

"Yes!" Dawn cheered, almost dancing in place. Ash didn´t pay too much attention to her, instead of focusing somewhat on the red-haired girl walking towards them. What caught Ash´s eye most of all though, was the bubbling of the river water right beneath the girl. And it was a good thing he noticed because it made him prepared to act the second the enormous Gyarados burst out of the water. "Pikachu use Thunderbolt, and Shinx use Discharge!" he yelled immediately, the two Pokémon instantly picking up on the urgency. 

The yellow and blue bolts of lightning sprang forth and shot toward the Gyarados at top speed, slamming into it and actually forcing it somewhat into the air. The giant 'Atrocious Pokémon' roared in pain, allowing the red-haired teen to get away from the water´s edge with a few swift leaps. The Gyarados glared at Pikachu and Shinx with a malicious gleam in its eye, but before it could even halfway launch an attack a rather chilling shriek sounded from beneath the river. The Gyarados looked wary, but not overly concerned. The attack though never came, as its attention was focused squarely on the bubbling part of the river.

Ash, who had vaguely recognized the cry, stared at the same bubbling part of the river, waiting to see what came up from the deeper part of the river. -Is this river connected to the oceans?, a small part of his mind wondered. The first Pokémon that appeared was a rough and angry-looking male Lapras, the herd it led appearing head by head behind it. The leader had several scars over its neck and torso, the parts they could see, and more than a few gouges and broken parts of its shell. Even the Lapras´ horn was broken slightly, only about two-thirds of the original length still being present. It wasn´t the leader that interested Ash at all though, as his eyes had locked onto a smaller female Lapras. The Lapras was bruised badly, but not a single scar on her. She seemed sad and resigned, only occasionally mustering the strength within herself to glare hatefully at the leader´s back.

Ash recognized this Lapras easily, and a wave of anger welled up within him at seeing her state. That was his own former Lapras, who had been the leader of her herd last time he saw her in Johto. Now she seemed beaten and broken, and Ash knew just where that blame lay. "Lapras!" he called out, to the shock of all the other trainers present. Zoey, as she was the red-haired girl, had come all the way over to them now, been recognized and greeted warmly. The herd all turned to stare at Ash, the leader glaring at him with rage in its eyes. Obviously, this Lapras had gotten used to being the undisputed ruler of the river, as even the Gyarados had stopped its action upon hearing it. 

His own Lapras, having recognized the voice, turned to him and tears of joy started trickling down its face at seeing him again. She started to swim toward him, only to be blocked by several of the other male Lapras at the command of their leader. Pikachu, Wartortle, and Ivysaur all narrowed their eyes at the leader of the herd, understanding all too well what was going on. Though the rest of Ash´s Pokémon were not acquainted with Lapras, they all understood what was going on. "Hey, let Lapras through!" Ash yelled over to them, the leader now understanding that he was looking at a specific Lapras and not the herd as a whole.

Turning to the beaten former leader the Lapras seemed to grin almost evilly before it whipped around and fired a powerful Ice Beam straight at Ash. The Ice Beam was stopped in its tracks though, as all three of Ivysaur, Wartortle, and Pikachu met it with an attack of their own. The Solarbeam, Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump completely obliterated the Ice Beam, all three attacks soaring forward and crashing heavily into the Lapras. 

It shrieked in pain at the combined power attacks but managed to fight through the pain to glare hatefully at Ash, who was glaring right back. The two stared each other down for a long time before the Lapras apparently decided it didn´t feel the need to take more attacks from Ash´s Pokémon. With a soft growling noise, it descended beneath the water again, the herd following with the lone exception being Ash´s old Lapras. She hurriedly swam over to him, and he leaned in posturing his forehead against hers. "Hey, girl. You´ve had a rough time, huh?" he softly cooed to the Lapras, softly tracing a palm over her neck to soothe her worries.

She gratefully chirped back, snuggling against him as much as she could without injuring him. "You want to come back with us?" Ash asked, finding an old Pokéball hidden inside his jacket. Lapras smiled widely at the sight of her old Pokéball and happily tapped her nose to the capture device. Ash let her out immediately after the capture had gone through, finding a few of his medicinal supplies to work on Lapras´ bruising. 

He was so focused on healing Lapras, that he totally missed the conversation that was playing out behind him. "Ash has a Lapras?" Dawn asked quietly, looking inquisitively at Brock. Brock nodded solemnly, "Yeah, she was being mistreated by a couple of hooligans when we first found her. That was during our Orange Islands adventures, about two and a half to three years ago now. Ash was the one who got her to open up again, and he released her when we found her herd again." Zoey seemed kind of confused, "But Lapras just left the herd to come back to Ash, and she doesn´t seem to have been treated well by her own. What happened there?" Brock snorted derisively, "Last time we met Lapras was toward the end of our Johto journey, back then she led the herd. So, what happened is simple, a powerful herd led by that rough Lapras attacked them and took over control. It´s common for the new Alpha to take the old one as a mate if they´re opposite genders and still capable of reproduction. Ash´s Lapras apparently refused that, and so they turned on her. Lapras probably only has Ash to call family now." 

A slight breeze picked up around them, a few scents being brought with it, and the river got a multitude of soft small waves. When Ash finally looked back at the group, it had been nearly an hour in which he had focused solely on helping Lapras. Not that anyone minded, as Pikachu, Ivysaur, and Wartortle had taken the time to share some memories with the newer recruits. None of them had noticed the prying eyes that had observed them from the shadows of the trees, a gentle smile on the person´s face as he continued his watch.

Realizing that in his fervor to help Lapras he had neglected to introduce his friends to each other, Ash finally got around to introducing Dawn and Zoey to Lapras. "She is a beauty," Zoey commented idly, gently running a hand down Lapras´ neck. "She really is," Dawn agreed, rubbing the other side of her neck. Ash laughed lightly, glad that Lapras seemed to have taken easily to his friends rather than being scared of them. Then Dawn seemed to realize something, "Hey we both got a Water-type here! I caught my first, outside of Piplup of course, and you reunited with one of your own!" Ash laughed happily at his girlfriend´s comment, but only nodded his head in way of answer.

Dawn smiled brightly before she got a bit of a serious expression and turned to Zoey. "Hey, Zoey?" she asked, getting her rivals attention. "What´s up?" Zoey answered, looking back at them from where she was still petting Lapras. "How about we have a practice match? I want to see if I can improvise something for Buizel," Dawn asked, a smile on her face the entire time. Zoey blinked a bit but then nodded with a determined smile etched on her face. The two coordinators got up, walking to opposing sides of the slowly clearing field. Steelix groggily got up, only to move a bit over to the side and crashing down again, fast asleep.

The sight of a sleepy Steelix caused Ash and Brock to laugh out loud, along with most of their older Pokémon. Dawn and Zoey did smile at the Steelix that had reluctantly gotten up to move for them but still focused more on each other. "Glameow let´s go!" Zoey exclaimed, letting her Pokémon pounce gracefully onto the field. "Buizel, spotlight!" Dawn´s voice answered her, her Buizel hitting the ground already in a fighting stance. The combat-oriented stance that Buizel had gotten into didn´t quite fit with what a performer should be, something Dawn commented on. "Buizel this is a performance battle, so part of it is looking graceful while you battle," her comment seemed to aggravate her Pokémon, who clicked its tongue and did nothing to change its stance. 

-Doesn´t look like Buizel intends to be a performer, Ash thought to himself. He had considered trading his Aipom to Dawn, as she was undoubtedly a performer but Dawn had to catch something that didn´t want to perform before that could happen. -She might have just found a candidate for that, Ash thought, but he decided to wait and see before he made the offer.

The battle ended fairly quickly, as in Buizel got so infuriated with Dawn´s continued efforts to make its moves more performance worthy that he finally snapped and simply refused to continue. "Come on!" Dawn almost screamed at the stubborn Water-type, before Ash calmly intervened. "Dawn. There are Pokémon that just aren´t interested in looking graceful, especially if they have to sacrifice power for it. Buizel is just one of those Pokémon, he doesn´t want to perform and you have to respect that."

"I guess, but I had really hoped to get a new Pokémon to work with toward the next contest," Dawn answered him, a sigh slipping from her lips. Buizel glanced over at the new trainer, not having bothered to see the other trainers present before. Understanding flooded Buizel´s system that this was a battler, not a performer, and he quickly stood in front of Ash, challenging him to a battle. Ash and Dawn both blinked, not sure how to respond. "Dawn how about you command Buizel in a battle against Ash? It just might help the two of you come to an understanding," Zoey pointed out, a bit curious to see what Buizel would do.

Dawn looked at Buizel, then at her boyfriend who simply shrugged, and finally decided, "It doesn´t hurt to try, I suppose." Ash nodded, "Who´s up for it?" When none of the others stepped forward, his Vespiquen apparently decided that getting a bit of experience in taking orders would be a good idea. Floating forward she nodded to Ash, who smiled right back. "Alright, Vespiquen. You and me, then," he spoke aloud. The two pairs took their positions, ready to start their battle as the wind picked up slightly, creating a low whistle through the leaves on the trees.

"Alright, Buizel start with Water Pulse!" Dawn ordered, taking the initiative. "Dodge that and use Power Gem!" Ash commanded, calm and collected as could be. Vespiquen easily slipped to the right of the Water Pulse and started sending glowing shards of rock at Buizel. "Dodge that by using Aqua Jet and use Sonic Boom to attack!" Buizel didn´t listen, opting instead to combat the incoming wave of rock shards by using Water Pulse again. Dawn gritted her teeth in frustration, seeing that Buizel wouldn´t listen to her. "Keep up the attack with Air Slash!" Ash ordered. The nearly invisible gash in the air flew forward rapidly, crashing into Buizel and sending him flying. "Signal Beam!" Ash ordered, setting his Vespiquen on the still reeling Buizel. 

The multicolored beam slammed heavily into Buizel, sending the poor Pokémon hard into the ground. "Buizel, can you get up?" Dawn asked, even if she was frustrated that he wouldn´t listen she didn´t want him to get hurt. Buizel, stubbornly refusing to give in, got up and fired a powerful Water Pulse toward Vespiquen, following after the attack with Aqua Jet. Ash rose an eyebrow but calmly kept commanding Vespiquen. "Dodge that Water Pulse and counter Aqua Jet with Slash," were the only words he uttered. Following the command of its trainer to the utmost degree, Vespiquen gracefully slid to the side and crashed its white glowing claw into the front of Buizel´s incoming attack. Buizel, having already battled twice today, not even counting the performance he refused to take part in, couldn´t keep up the power and was forcibly sent backward to land on his back. 

"That´s enough Vespiquen," Ash commented lightly, even as Buizel staggered to its feet once again. The Beehive Pokémon gazed from its trainer and back to the tired opponent, before nodding and drifting over to Ash. Ash smiled, gently rubbing Vespiquen´s head and offering a few words of praise to the battler´s delight. Buizel looked stricken on the other side of the field, as its opponent apparently didn´t find it worth its time. Ash made his way over, giving his girlfriend a quick hug and the squatted down in front of Buizel. "Listening to Dawn could prove to be a good idea, Buizel. At least try it for a while? Some of the performance combinations Dawn come up with, at least the ones she has concepts of right now, actually have the possibility to become powerful attacks. So, give her a chance, alright?"

Buizel seemed to take the advice in and nodded curtly, though it didn´t seem very pleased. Ash smiled at the Sea Weasel Pokémon, gazing over to his girlfriend who was smiling back at him. Zoey seemed leery at the prospect of Dawn gaining control over Buizel, not in concern for her own team but because she doubted it would happen easily, if at all. Not one to rain on a rival´s parade though, Zoey rather encouraged Dawn. "Maybe you can get Buizel ready for the Hearthome Contest in about three weeks then, Dawn?"

Dawn seemed confused for a second before she caught onto the fact that Zoey was just informing her of a contest, she hadn´t had the time to hear about yet. "Yeah, I might just be able to do that," Dawn answered, a smile on her face. The group of trainers decided to continue their journey at that point, having had enough of the excitement that had come with the river. That is every one of them except Zoey, who stayed behind as she was at the river to catch a Water-type of her own.

The trio bid their friend be careful at the river on her own, but nevertheless, let her stay behind without a fuss when they kept moving forward. As the group slowly made their way forward, Ash kept getting the feeling that they were being watched and could never quite shake that feeling. When they had walked for about three more hours, they started hearing a commotion, causing Ash to look at Brock. "We aren´t close enough to hear a commotion out of Eterna City, are we?" Ash asked curiously, as the slight breeze ruffled his hair. Brock shook his head, "That isn´t Eterna, at the earliest we´ll get to Eterna later tonight, but I tomorrow would be a more likely alternative," Brock answered, his forehead scrounged together in a show of deep thought from the oldest in the group. 

Dawn rose an eyebrow daintily at that, the wind softly brushing through her hair as well. A floating leaf got tangled up in her hair, which she removed slightly annoyed. "Then what is that noise? It sounds like a gathering of humans," Dawn pointed out. Brock shrugged, not really knowing what to answer to that question. "We could check it out?" Ash commented, curious to see what was going on. The noise didn´t sound like anything bad, in fact, it sounded a lot like cheering. Neither of the other two seemed to mind, so the three set out towards the origin of the noise at a leisurely pace.

The noise, of course, grew louder the closer they came, but it also became more distinguishable. The noise had in fact been cheering, and laughter, as a large meadow they came into housed a gigantic tent in striped white and red. "Is that a circus?" Ash asked, not fully believing his own eyes. "I do believe it is," Brock answered him, equally stunned at the sight. Circuses were an oddity in the regions, as very few of them ever got the permission needed to host shows in or near any of the cities. This one apparently had gotten that permission, which explained the loud cheering.

The trio walked calmly into the gathering of people, all of which seemed to be workers of the circus in some capacity. The director was the first to notice them and immediately approached them. "Welcome, welcome to the Circus Absalom! We have just recently gotten our permit so tonight will be our first official show ever!" the director exclaimed joyfully, the smile on his face mirrored on all of his employees. Ash looked around the large open meadow, making careful notice of the Ferris Wheel and the multitude of stands. -This is more of a carnival with a show than a circus, Ash thought to himself, -Though I guess the difference is vague enough that it doesn´t matter.

Ash turned to Brock and rose an eyebrow in a silent question to the older trainer, who got the message instantly and nodded with a smile. As the circus employees started buzzing around them like a busy hive of Bug-types, Ash turned to Dawn. "How about we check out the stands and other attractions until it´s time for the show?" Dawn seemed surprised at first but then smiled widely. "Yeah, that´s a brilliant idea! You coming, Brock?" she asked, turning to the older boy, clueless of the earlier interaction between the two boys. Luckily Brock had a legitimate excuse ready, "Actually I was thinking of finding the breeders and physicians to exchange some techniques and hopefully learn something. A traveling circus is bound to have a physician and breeder in employ." With that, he waved goodbye with a cheery smile and slinked off, after a quick wink to Ash, which Dawn never noticed. 

"Oh well, that means it´s just you and me," Dawn stated, the same excited grin from before on her face. "Yeah, actually that´s just what I wanted. I was thinking we could make a date of this," Ash said, a bit embarrassed but still happy about being able to spend some time alone with his girlfriend. Dawn blinked a bit, but then smiled even wider than before with a slight dusting of pink spreading through her cheeks. "I´d like that!" she answered, quickly grabbing his hand in hers and walking towards some of the already finished booths.

Several of the booths had smaller activities or were simple snack booths, but a few had genuinely difficult challenges and quizzes. As well as a few fortunetellers, generally a psychic accompanied by a Xatu. Neither Ash nor Dawn felt much need to consult a fortuneteller though, so those booths were skipped entirely. About an hour after the preparations for the big opening had begun a large number of people began streaming in from Eterna, joyful chatter and excited murmuring filling the air. Scents of popcorn, other treats, and a few distinct perfumes had risen into the air, creating a rather unique scent for the circus. 

"Come on, Ash let's get on the Ferris Wheel!" Dawn exclaimed excitedly, dragging her laughing boyfriend with her without a struggle. Quite a few of both the employees and older couples that had arrived smiled knowingly toward the pair, probably reminiscing about their own past. The two approached the Ferris Wheel, which had almost no line at all at the moment, still talking amongst themselves and laughing. When they finally came to the handler of the Ferris Wheel, Ash finally had to break off the conversation with Dawn for a few moments. "Two for the Ferris Wheel, please," he stated, pulling out his wallet. "That'll be 30 Pokédollars, please," the handler answered, a smile plastered on his face. When the money had been handed over, he ushered Dawn and Ash into the next cart and wished them a pleasant view.

The slight breeze felt pleasant on their skin as the Ferris Wheel neared the top, and Ash leaned over, a bit hesitantly, to plant a soft kiss on Dawn´s lips. As they separated, Dawn laid her head down on Ash´s shoulder and let out a content sigh. Coming down from the Ferris Wheel, Ash noticed a commotion in the distance and grew curious. "What´s happening over there, do you think?" Ash asked, pointing toward the ever-growing crowd of people. Dawn blinked at the question and looked over to where Ash pointed. "I don´t quite know, do you want to check it out?" she asked, knowing that once Ash got curious there was nothing that could hold him back from sating his curiosity. 

When Ash nodded absentmindedly, but still kept her hand in his, Dawn seemed pleased and shrugged lightly to herself. "Well, we need to get down first and then I don´t mind checking it out." Ash smiled at her, and gave her another soft kiss, this time on her temple, causing her to let out a rather cute, in his opinion, giggle.

It took another five minutes before they could walk over to the commotion, but curiously they found that the crowd parted slightly to allow them to pass. When the two finally came to the end of the crowd, or rather the middle, they understood what had caused the commotion, though Dawn understood it better than Ash. In the middle of the crowd sat Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four, casually reading a book while planted on a rather large stone. He looked up with a smirk as Dawn and Ash approached him, clapping his book together and rising to stand. He was rather tall, almost standing at 1, 90 meters tall, with flowing heather-colored hair. He gazed at Ash over the rims of his round glasses and smiled in a challenge. "Greetings, Ash of Pallet," he stated, shocking everyone around him with the knowledge that he actually recognized the trainer in front of him. 

**A/N:**

 **Yeah, so that´s how I ended that. You´ll read more about that in the next chapter. I am very sorry this has taken so long, but I´ve been working so I´ve been very tired. Also, I lost my inspiration for a while. I´ve been playing a bit Heart Gold and Platinum to get it back, and I did somewhat. I´ll try to get back in the groove. I don´t think I have anything more to say to that.  
**

**See ya next time!**


	23. Enigmas of Eterna

**A/N:**

 **Before we get back on topic I want to apologize (something I do way too often, but not for no reason), I got introduced to playing DnD with a few friends, and it stole my entire attention for far longer than it should have. For that reason, I apologize, but I am back and will try to update even though I have a lot of distractions, not the least of which is my University education.**

 **Alright, chapter 23, Ash and company finally make it to Eterna. I´ve found that I write perhaps entirely too much filler between Gyms… But I´ll let you decide on that.**

 **Megalon 61:** **I can´t say for sure either way actually, as I am not entirely certain yet. It might happen if I can plausibly inject it into the story, and it might not if I find myself unable.**

 **Some continuation from last time, the arrival to Eterna and some more events happening this time.**

 **So, enjoy, right after this disclaimer:** **I do not own Pokémon, nor do I profit from this fanfiction whatsoever.**

 **Enigmas of Eterna!**

Ash seemed bemused by the casual greeting by on the region´s Elite Four, but not anywhere as amused as Lucian himself seemed with the shock he had created. "Lucian of the Sinnoh Elite Four, how can I be of service?" Ash spoke, answering the casual greeting similarly. The jaws of the crowd remained dropped, though one could quite positively feel the suspense in the air. Lucian chuckled at the greeting, before answering, "Well, to be honest, I have grown a bit bored of battling only the other Elite Four. Seeing as there are two Elite Trainers currently registered for the Sinnoh League, I figured I´d find one to alleviate my boredom."

Now everyone was buzzing with excitement, realizing that Lucian intended to battle this trainer, who was largely unknown among them. Ash seemed conflicted though, but eventually answered, "Pretty much any other time I would be accepting that challenge at once, but… I´m currently on a date with my girlfriend, I won´t abandon that for a battle, no matter how much I´d like to take it." Everyone, including Dawn, rose their eyebrows in a flash, none of them would have ever thought a young Trainer would be declining a challenge from an Elite Four member, least of all a member of the Elite Four who sought him out.

Dawn hugged Ash tightly from the side, rising on her toes to kiss his cheek. Before stating, "Just accept the challenge, Ash. I know how much you want to, and while it is sweet that you´d refuse it for me, I don´t want to deprive you of the chance." Ash gazed over at her, looking into her eyes and observing her smiling face. A large grin broke out on his face, and he turned toward Lucian just as a powerful gust of wind crashed over the field, ruffling both his and Lucian´s appearances. "It seems my girlfriend wouldn´t mind, so how about a one on one battle?" he suggested, the grin never leaving his face. 

Lucian, who had first had seemed both shocked and a bit saddened at the declination of his challenge, lit up with delight, accepting graciously, "A one on one will do wonders to alleviate my boredom, a marvelous idea. I believe I will be choosing Espeon for this!" The magnificent and graceful Pokémon appeared in a flash of white, landing beautifully between Ash and Lucian. "I´ll go with, Pupitar!" Ash announced, releasing his powerful Rock- and Ground-type.

The stark contrast between the graceful Espeon and the rugged Pupitar made for quite the spectacle, evident by a lot of murmuring around them and even some few bets being made. Ash and Lucian locked eyes, but neither made any command simply waiting and observing each other. Pupitar and Espeon too seemed to mainly observe each other, feeling that this was a serious battle between their trainers. All spectators held their breath waiting for the trainers to make their move, none wanting to influence them. Ash finally made the first move after what felt like ages, even though not even half a minute had passed.

As the wind picked up again, with a howling screech, he shouted his command, "Pupitar use Earthquake!" The floating body of Pupitar slammed into the ground only moments later, creating a huge shockwave of seismic energy that made it difficult for the spectators to stand. Both Lucian and Ash kept their feet with no problem, while Espeon had simply sprung into the air to avoid the massive attack. Just as Ash had planned for, which became evident seconds later when Pupitar´s Dark Pulse connected heavily with Espeon´s head. Lucian looked a bit shocked at first, but then he smirked. "I should have figured you also had ways of communicating with your Pokémon non-verbally," he commented easily, just as Espeon´s Psybeam tore through the air toward Pupitar.

A quickly performed Sandstorm blocked the attack from hitting Pupitar, even obscuring the Hard Shell Pokémon´s movements from view. "Rain Dance," Lucian calmly stated, pushing his glasses further up on his nose again. The heavy deluge that started easily swept the Sandstorm away, the wet sand too heavy to remain in the air. What none present was expecting was to see Pupitar missing, and Ash smirking slightly as the Sandstorm was effectively countered. "Crunch!" he yelled, causing the ground straight under Espeon to burst upwards. Even with tremendous reflexes, Espeon didn´t manage to dodge the surprise attack, Pupitar´s powerful jaws clenching around its front leg. Lucian´s eyes widened minutely, before he calmly ordered, "Use Psychic!" The light blue hue of psychic energy enveloped Pupitar, forcing it to let go of Espeon before it got sent flying into the ground. "Now Psybeam!" "Meet it with Dark Pulse!" The two attacks collided heavily in mid-air, seemingly equal in power. To Ash´s surprise though, Espeon´s Psybeam seemed to gain ground against the Dark Pulse and even with a type disadvantage the attack soon slammed home and sent Pupitar crashing into the ground once more.

Ash gritted his teeth a bit but didn´t raise his voice in concern, knowing that Pupitar preferred being silently encouraged. As if to prove Ash correct in his assumption that he wasn´t out of the fight Pupitar rose from the ground again. A menacing scowl visible in his eyes, as a deep purple energy, rose to envelop him. -Payback, huh? Ash thought to himself, seeing the attack for what it was. Unfortunately for him, Lucian too recognized the attack and had immediately formed a counter plan. Before the purple energy could fully form Espeon had hit Pupitar with a Shadow Ball and was rapidly closing the distance between them. 

"Abandon the Payback and use Crunch!" Ash ordered, trying to counter Lucian´s plan. However, even as Pupitar followed orders immediately Espeon managed to use her flexible body to twist out of the way. When her tail lit up with a metallic sheen, and Ash recognized the Steel-type attack his eyes widened again. Around them the masses were silent as the powerful Iron Tail slammed Pupitar into the ground for the third time in about half a minute, eliciting a pained groan from the Hard Shell Pokémon. The loud clang of a metal-covered tail upon a shell with the properties of metal was deafening and made the closest of the audience cover their ears. Though many thought that would be the end of the battle, Pupitar surprised all except Ash by getting up with a roar of defiance.

"Excellent Pupitar, now use Dark Pulse!" The eerie pulsing beam of darkness slammed into Espeon in retaliation, sending the feline Pokémon flying backward. The surprise seemed to have made Espeon more on guard because it started to cautiously stalk around Pupitar. Thus the two Pokémon ended up circling again, just as they had done at the start of the battle. However, the initiative this time was taken by Lucian. He narrowed his eyes slightly, hoping to catch Ash and Pupitar off-guard with the silent command. He had no such luck, as the young Elite Trainer noticed the narrowing of his eyes. "Iron Head!" Ash commanded instantly, and Pupitar´s powerful physical strength crashed into Espeon´s Iron Tail attack. With superior physical forced Pupitar sent Espeon flying, crashing into the ground further back.

Seeing the chance Pupitar immediately started charging his Payback, while Espeon was getting up and shaking off the dust. A Shadow Ball followed by a Psybeam were both blocked by the Dark-type energy of Payback before Espeon started charging forward with the familiar sheen of a Zen Headbutt covering its head. The two attacks slammed into each other in a massive explosion of force, kicking up a huge dust cloud. Obscured by the dust cloud Ash gritted his teeth slightly, worried about his Pokémon. Once again as the dust cloud slowly dispersed the crowd held their breath waiting for the result.

A sharp, almost mournful whistle of wind blew past the carnival, as the dust settled and Pupitar was revealed on the ground with swirls in his eyes. Espeon managed to shakily force itself to its feet, obviously not having taken the explosion unscathed either. Ash sighed but smiled widely as he saw Espeon looking far less pristine than she had done right out of her Pokéball. Lucian smiled brightly as he clapped his hands together, "Marvelous battling, Ash! Had I been battling one of your stronger partners I would be hard-pressed to keep up I believe." He crouched down and stroked his Espeon behind her ears, eliciting a pleased purr from the psychic feline. Ash smiled and merely shook his head slowly, "I believe those should be my words Mr. Goyō. I happen to know for a fact that your most powerful Pokémon is a Gallade. And if I´m not mistaken that Espeon is fairly young, at least judging by her coat."

Lucian chuckled lightly at the response, "Please, call me Lucian. I believe you have earned that right. And I must admit you are correct, this beautiful girl is fairly young still, but she shows such immense potential that I cannot keep from wanting to see it fulfilled." The praise seemed to raise Espeon´s spirit even higher, as she arched her back and rubbed into Lucian´s hands while her purring rose in volume. The sight of the overly affectionate feline Pokémon made Ash smile, though Dawn stepping up to his side and hugging him quite easily made the smile even larger.

"Well, I believe my show now has quite the spectacle to live up to," a jovial and chuckling Director Absalom as the crowd parted to allow him access to the middle. He continued in the same mirthful tone, "I do hope my acts don´t disappoint after such a thrilling battle. That said my acts should be ready within moments, and I´d like all attendees to please enter the round top!" With that the man turned extravagantly on his heel and seemed to almost float towards the circus tent, his cloak billowing around him impressively. Shortly thereafter, Brock seemed to materialize beside Ash from thin air, a joyful expression evident on his features. "Are you staying for the performance, Lucian?" Ash asked courteously, curious if the young Elite Four member would be sticking around for a while.

"Alas, I cannot. I, unfortunately, have other obligations and had only the time for our battle, I now need to return to my duties. Perhaps I shall seek you out again when my boredom elevates once more," Lucian answered primly before he seemed to simply fade out of existence to the knowing smirks of Ash and Brock. Dawn, however, had no idea what he just did and looked confused and impressed in equal measure. "How did he do that?" she asked quietly, the three of them having been the last three to remain with the Elite Four member. 

"You noticed how he picked Espeon up when he rose from the ground?" Ash asked as the trio started to move towards the round top. "Of course, she was truly a gorgeous Pokémon," Dawn smiled, considering whether she wanted to search for her own Eevee. "Well as you know Lucian´s specialty is Psychic-types, and there is a very specific Psychic-type move that would allow for just that to occur," Ash continued, gesturing back to the place from which Lucian had disappeared. "A Pokémon move? I guess it would be Espeon who made it happen then?" Dawn seemed intrigued, biting her lip slightly as she thought. "The move is called Teleport, but no it wasn´t Espeon. Espeon cannot learn Teleport, I´m guessing he had another Pokémon with him that teleported him out," Ash answered just as the trio entered the circus tent and found their seats.

The air in the round top was tight and humid, making it somewhat difficult to breathe in there in comparison with the outside open air. Besides, the humidity and close proximity to the other spectators made the temperature almost unbearable, though the trio all ignored the slight discomfort and waited to see the show. A few minutes later, Director Absalom entered the ring to roaring applause from the crowd. Holding up his hands to ask for silence, Absalom moved into the center of the ring, standing on a small platform to be more visible to the back rows.

"Welcome one and all, big and small, young and old! Welcome to the show of a lifetime! Be aware that all of these acts took years of practice to perform safely, and are not something you should try without proper supervision!" the Director advised seriously before he grinned. "That, however, is not what you are here for, nor to hear me speak! You are all here to see these marvelous performers in awe, so without further ado… The Donphan Riders!" 

As the Director moved hurriedly out of the ring three Donphan came rolling into the ring, each with a circus artist standing on their back as they rolled. As the Donphan mover faster and faster the riders started doing more and more daring stunts, and when the Donphan started moving close by each other they would switch places. One of the most daring stunts any of the three did though was when one of the Donphan sprung high into the air, he grabbed a hold of its back and stretched himself to be fully upright, while the Donphan still rolled and the rider, while fully stretched out, was beneath the Donphan. Before the Donphan hit the ground again the Rider had made a full rotation and landed standing on the Pokémon´s back again. The final stunt of impressed as well, as one of the Donphan came out of his rolling form and landed on the back of the other two, still rolling. One rider was on top of the standing Donphan while holding the other two on either side, both of which was outstretched with their legs positioned on the standing Donphan´s flank. It became obvious that it was the final stunt when the entire group left the ring still in the same positions, and the Director entered the ring once more. 

"Marvelous! Impressive weren´t they!?" he asked out, purposely hyping the crowd further. The atmosphere within the round top had become electric with excitement, something the Director certainly found much joy in. "The next act will be an amazing show of strength and physical prowess! Please put your hands together for… The Muscle Maniacs!" With that, he once again made a hasty retreat from the ring, and within a few moments, a large man walked in carrying a massive chain by himself. Following him were a Machoke and a Mienshao, the Machoke carrying a metallic wheel and a few iron balls.

The impressively muscled man started by unraveling the chain from around himself and tossed one end to the Machoke. The two then proceeded to stretch the chain out, making it a taut line. The Mienshao fetched the metal wheel from the Machoke and placed it on the taut chain before it sprang up and landed gracefully on top of the wheel, which immediately started to move. The Mienshao started performing acrobatic stunts on the wheel, but the really impressive shows were performed by the man and Machoke, both of whom were juggling the heavy iron balls with one hand and keeping the line taut with the other. While not as impressive as the preceding act, it kept the crowd´s attention and kept them entertained. The act ended with Mienshao juggling iron balls with both hands and one of its feet, while balancing with other. The final action of the act, was the man and Machoke making the line buck upwards, sending the wheel and Mienshao into the air. Mienshao kept juggling the iron balls, now also including the metal wheel, until it landed and the trio all bowed to the crowd and left the ring to appreciative applause.

Once more the Director entered the ring to raise the spirits of the crowd ever higher before for the third time introducing his next act. Within a few moments, a couple of young twin red-heads entered the ring, with two graceful Pyroar at their sides. They had been introduced as the Flaming Fangs, and why became evident shortly after their entrance. Their act started with a dazzling display of pyrotechnic techniques performed by their Pyroar. The act continued into the Pyroar darting around a set obstacle course at blistering speeds covered in the fiery form of Flame Charge, after which they both did a full-frontal flip landing with twin deep roars blasting the fires of Flame Charge to all sides. Following the twins, who had been introduced as Cassandra and Leora Noir, jumped onto the backs of their respective Pyroar. The two lion Pokémon then covered their bodies in the electrical energy of Wild Charge before once soaring through the ring at high velocity. The difference, of course, being the twins now on their backs, and that they were jumping through hoops that were blazing in flame. The final act of their show was one of the Pyroar using Fire Fang to grab onto the other´s Iron Tail to fling it into the air, and finishing off with a massive display of firepower as a Solar Beam and a Hyper Beam collided in midair between them. The sparkles that floated in the sky like twinkling stars as a result masked the twins' disappearance and the reentrance of the Director.

The rest of the evening passed in a similar fashion, with multiple widely different and highly entertaining performances. When the Director, in the end, announced that the finale of the show was now finished, to thunderous applause from the crowd, the sun had almost gone down. "Can we still reach Eterna before the dusk takes completely over, Brock?" Ash asked as he and Dawn walked out of the round top hand-in-hand. Brock rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before answering, "I think so, but we might have to travel just a bit quicker than we usually do." Ash seemed to think for a moment, "What kind of terrain is there between here and Eterna?" Brock rose an eyebrow, unsure as to why Ash asked, "Mostly plains and flower-fields, why?" Ash smiled mischievously, "Then I have an idea for getting there quicker."

In short order, Ash had switched a few of his Pokémon temporarily, and the three friends were hammering down the path towards Eterna on the backs of three happily charging Tauros. Ash was laughing joyfully, while Brock and Dawn were hanging on for dear life, terrified of falling off. The group rode into Eterna shortly after 8 in the evening and quickly managed to book a room at the Pokécenter. "We should head out for something to eat, I´m starving," Ash commented to Dawn, just after the two had put their stuff away in their rooms. Dawn thought about it for a second before her stomach growled in agreement for her, and the two simply laughed before finding Brock and inviting him to join them. As the three were walking down the streets to look for a restaurant, they suddenly heard the soothing sounds of a harp as they walked past one of Eterna´s public parks. The calming aroma of the park's flowers, the temperature of the windless night and the soothing stringing of the harp all drew the trio into the park to see what was going on.

Not far into the park, the found the origin of the sounds, sitting in supreme serenity and tranquility at a bench. On the bench sat Nando with his eyes closed and his hands absentmindedly playing the harp, with a few dozen different Grass-types sitting on the ground in front of him listening attentively to his music and releasing their best smelling aromas in pleased gratitude. "Hi Nando," Dawn greeted quietly, carefully trying not to startle the minstrel or the surrounding Pokémon too much. Nando´s eyes blinked open, and a smile presented itself on his face. "Ah, Ash and Dawn it´s a pleasure to meet you again. Mhm, I do not believe I have been introduced to this new companion of yours, however. I am Nando, a pleasure to meet you," he spoke quickly in his melodic voice. 

Brock smiled, held out his hand and introduced himself, "Brock Slate, the pleasure is mine." The two of them shook hands, while the many Grass-type Pokémon looked on curiously and apprehensively. "Why are you sitting here playing so late in the evening, Nando?" Dawn asked, a bit curious, while she rested her head on Ash´s shoulder. "Ah I was simply resting for a bit after my battle with Gardenia a while ago," Nando answered a gentle smile on his face. That, of course, caught Ash´s attention, "Really? How did it go?" Nando laughed a bit and strummed his fingers across the harp a couple of times before he finally answered. "I managed to get the Forest Badge, though the battle was harder than I thought it would be." 

"Congratulations, that´s amazing!" Dawn stated, giving Nando a slight hug much to his bewilderment. Ash smiled widely in acknowledgment as well, though he also had a question. "Is the contest side of things going as well?" Nando smiled, before he fetched a pair of silken handkerchiefs from the inside of his sage green jacket, one of them was ebony black with a few golden patterns while the other was scarlet with silver patterns. They were both folded and when Nando unfurled them a single Gym Badge came into view in the black one, while a Contest Ribbon was resting easily upon the red. "They are both going well, though I still have to improve," Nando answered, as he folded the handkerchiefs back together and put them back in his jacket. 

Ash laughed merrily at the statement, "We all improve as long as we live, Nando." The single comment put a wide smile on the faces of all other trainers present, though Brock´s was perhaps the widest.

"We were going to get something to eat when we were distracted by your music, would you care to join us?" Ash asked grinning. The Grass-types had started to settle in for the night, going back to their burrows and other homes. "I´d be delighted to," Nando answered, shortly before the sun seemed to completely set and an orange hue enveloped the horizon. The foursome made their way down the streets, finding a restaurant just a few blocks down from the park. The waitress smiled widely at them and eagerly led them to a table, before taking their order of drinks. She returned shortly after with their drinks and the menu of the restaurant and left the four of them to their conversation and choice. 

The foursome quickly got engaged in joyful debate and their meal was passed sharing jokes and experiences. All said it was a merry evening, that is until they started making their way back to the Pokécenter. Around the central square of the city, a large commotion had risen, which drew the attention of the four who quickly decided to check it out. A bit off to the side of the central square was a museum that was widely known and held several priceless artifacts. As the police, led by Eterna´s own Officer Jenny were currently barring access to the area in front of the museum, it wasn´t difficult for Ash or the others to piece together what had happened. 

"I´ll check if they need any help. I´ll only be two minutes ok?" Ash informed the other, quickly planting a chaste kiss on Dawn´s cheek before he strode over to the police barricade. "Excuse me?" he called the attention of the closest police officer to him as he stepped up. "I´m sorry but the area is currently off-limits," the young officer answered, not condescending in any way. Ash rose an eyebrow before he purposely let the officer see his Elite Trainer ring and fished out his G-Men ID card from the inner pocket of his jacket. "I think Officer Jenny might like to hear from you, young man. This way please," the officer kept his voice calm and tried his hardest not to compromise Ash. There were G-Men operatives that were highly publicized, such as Lance, but in general, the organization preferred to have their operatives be as anonymous as possible. 

Officer Jenny was none too pleased with seeing one of her subordinates' approach with an unidentified, to her, trainer, "This area is supposed to be off-limits Cavanaugh! Why are you bringing an un-authorized civilian into the perimeter?" The two questions were shot out quickly, and her tone conveyed accurately just how stressed and frustrated the situation made her. Before the police officer, apparently named Cavanaugh, could answer Ash spoke up himself, "Perhaps Officer it would be better to get my ID yourself before you dismiss potential help?" 

A 16-year-old speaking with such perceived audacity shocked Officer Jenny slightly, but she quickly shook that off and held her hand out for the ID in silence. Quickly and covertly handing over his ID, Ash had to work to keep his laugh back at seeing the fleeting embarrassment on the police officer´s face. "My apologies, Mr. Ketchum, I wasn´t aware," she quickly apologized, though Ash simply waved her off. "Is there anything I can do to help here?" Ash asked, curious to whether he was needed or the officers could handle whatever this was. "I believe we have it under control Mr. Ketchum but thank you for the offer. There was only one thing stolen and as far as we´re aware it isn´t dangerous, unfortunately, we cannot find any clues at all. No physical proof of thieves´ presence except for the broken backdoor and the cut wire to the alarm. No fingerprint, bootprints or even a scent to be followed. The culprit has simply vanished into thin air," Officer Jenny informed him, which made Ash instantly suspicious. Not of the officer, but he knew of one way for a person to literally vanish into thin air. 

"Have you gotten an Esper to check for traces of Teleport?" Ash asked as he turned around to leave. "Whoever did this knew exactly what to and where to go, it´s either a professional acting on someone´s behalf or whoever wanted this object is very adept at theft themselves," Ash noted absentmindedly aloud, as he walked off. The two police officers blinked before they looked at each other, incredulous expressions on both their faces. "Cavanaugh…" Officer Jenny started, only to be cut off by Officer Cavanaugh. "Find the closest available Esper, got it, boss. I´m on it," Cavanaugh replied, hurrying over to a few officers sitting by computers to get in touch with an Esper. 

Ash returned to Nando, Dawn, and Brock shortly after, "There´s been a theft, don´t know what´s been stolen but they seem to think it isn´t dangerous. They can handle it, and quite frankly I am way too tired to think about it at the moment. Should we return to the Pokécenter?" Receiving nods, and a few smiles from his friends, Ash made his way to the Pokécenter hand-in-hand with Dawn, talking with Nando and Brock. While the evening hadn´t been completely without issue, it had still been better than their first afternoon and evening in Oreburgh.

 **A/N:**

 **Finished! Finally, I managed to overcome my writer´s block! There have been three things that have gotten in way of this chapter; No. 1 is the writer´s block which is the most severe one I have ever gotten and had mostly to do with the circus performances. I have never attended one and so I had difficulties finding appropriate replacements in Pokémon. Reason no. 2 is my studies, which has demanded my attention a lot more than previously. And I do have to prioritize my education over writing for the fun of it, much as I would like to be able to focus solely on writing here. Reason no. 3 is the least viable reason, but it still took a lot of my time. As stated in the top AN I have gotten into DnD, but I have also gotten into several different Warhammer games. And as I had a writer´s block a lot of my stress relief has been going to painting miniatures instead of trying to break through my writer´s block.  
**

**I apologize for the extremely tardy chapter, but unfortunately, I cannot promise it won´t happen again much as I would like to. Hopefully, people will still be around to read the chapter even after all the time I´ve taken.  
**

**I have stated before and I meant it, that I will not abandon a story. If the chapter takes a lot of time it is either because I am too busy IRL to write, or I am fighting against a major writer´s block. The chapter quality has probably taken a hit for the same reason. I hope you will continue to read anyways, and I hope to hear from you in either reviews or PMs.  
**

**Till next time!**


End file.
